Considerations of a 9/80 Work Schedule

Many people are aware of the typical 8-hour-per-day 5 days-a-week, 40-hour week. Did you know that there are alternative schedules to this routine? The most well-known is the 9/80 schedule. But is it the right choice for your business and your employees?

In this article this article, the scheduling and management experts from Sling give you all that you should know in order to choose the best option for you. We’ll also explain how you can implement this unique working schedule for your company.

What is a 9/80 work Schedule?

A 9-80 schedule of work comprises eight 9-hour days, an eight-hour day and one off day spread over two weeks.

In particular, a 9/80 schedule involves employees working 80 hours in 9 days (hence the term nine days and 80 hours) instead of the standard 10 days (assuming the five-day work week). This allows employers to offer their employees a whole day off every week.

For a normal 9/80 schedule, employees be working four days of nine hours (36 hours) then one eight-hour workday. To pay the bills it is recommended to apply the first portion of an eight-hour working day for the first week, and the other half to the next week.

In total, this totals to 40 hours of work from Monday to Friday during one week and then 40 hours of work from Monday through Thursday in two weeks (all with no overtime). Then, you can offer employees the second Friday off entirely without having to cut off work hours.

What are the advantages of A 9/80 Work-Schedule?

At first you might think that the work schedule of 9/80 will only benefit your employees. However, look a bit further and you’ll realize that the work schedule of 9/80 is also beneficial for your company. Here’s how.

1.) Work/Life Balance

The company will give employees two extra days of vacation each month. This will allow them to make appointments or conduct personal business or enjoy a getaway with friends or family. It could also result in fewer sick days, fewer no-calls/no-shows and less time-off requests for your company.

2.) Less interruptions

Employees will have more time to attend to personal obligations, which means they won’t need to disrupt work to finish their tasks. This is better for their involvement to improve the overall productivity of your company.

3) Less Commuting

The additional two days off every month means that your employees won’t need to stand in line and they won’t need to consume gas and they won’t be required to add miles to their vehicles.

4) Improved Task Completion

The additional hour of work every day means your employees stand a better likelihood of finishing their tasks the day that they begin their work.

5.) Better Rest

The two extra days of vacation each month allows workers more time recover from their busy schedules. They’ll feel fresh and ready for work the next Monday.

6) More Productivity

If you implement the 9/80 schedule into your work routine that provides employees with greater control over their schedules. In turn, your employees will feel more motivated due to the additional day off at the conclusion of the two weeks.

This increase in energy which in turn, results in increased productivity over the 9 days that your team is in action. It’s not just dependent on the job at hand.

Improved productivity overall when you use this kind or flexible scheduling. The 9/80 schedule is also able to reduce stress over the long term, so that employees need less time off or take sick days to recuperate.

7) More Incentive for Potential Employees

The process of recruiting new employees can be an overwhelming task in the current fast-paced workplace. The new hires typically want the highest quality of possible fringe benefits before they commit to your business. A 9/80 schedule can make your business more appealing to prospective employees.

If you can offer this kind of schedule on the first day, employees are able to achieve a balance between work and life which is more customized to their specific needs immediately. They don’t need to work for months, weeks or even years before they are able to take control of their work schedule.

This is a enticing incentive that will significantly boost your efforts to recruit.

8.) More Flexibility

One of the biggest worries managers face when they consider the 9/90 working schedule is the coverage of shifts. They fear that they won’t be able to get enough members of the team to complete all the important tasks during the additional day off.

However, the schedule 9/80 actually makes it simpler than you’d imagine.

If you aren’t able to shut down your office at the conclusion of each week, you could divide your team into two and offer half of them Friday off, and the other half of them the Monday off. Everyone has a three-day holiday and the office continues to operate from Monday through Friday.

These are only some of the advantages you’ll get after adopting an 8/80 working schedule. There are likely to be other advantages too as you’re working this way.

It’s a good idea, but is it too amazing to be real? Let’s look at the alternative side of the 9/80-work-schedule coin.

What are the challenges associated with Working 9/80?

The difficulties of the 9/80 working schedule usually are related to employee morale and time tracking. Here are some of the most frequent issues.

1) Longer Workday

During their nine-hour working days employees might feel as if they have only time to get home, eat dinner and go to sleep. This can affect the mood after a time.

2.) Change the Regular Day Off

Sometimes, employees want to shift their normal day off in order to accommodate their schedules. This could make your time tracking more challenging.

3.) Early Arrival or Departure

The ability to let your employees alter their departure and arrival times could result in more than 40 hours of work in the first week, and fewer than 40 hours of work during the second week, leading to overtime and other issues.

4.) Problems With Focus

If your team members prefer a calm workplace The 9/80 schedule could create problems. A lot of fluctuation in activities can cause employees to lose focus and lead them to lose interest and motivation.

This can also impact negatively on telecommuters and freelancers who are working while the majority of your office is not.

5.) Staffing Gaps

Smaller companies that have fewer employees The 9/80 schedule is not the best option. Alternate schedules such as the 9/80 could mean that there aren’t enough staff members to cover all shifts to ensure that your business will be open for the additional days of vacation each month.

Even if you are able to stagger your schedule to ensure that certain employees are off on Fridays and others have the day off on Monday, you might not have enough employees to ensure that your business is running effectively.

6) Inactive Customers And Businesses

In some instances customers as well as other businesses might not be operating during the extended hours of work associated with the 9/80 timeframe.

This can result in drops in productivity, and possibly an increase in revenue if you’re unable to ensure that your employees are in line in some way or another during the brief time period that other companies are closed and your customers are in other locations.

7) Sick Leave

You might need to change how you handle sick days if you include the 9/80 schedule into your work routine. In this kind of work plan, a day from work because of illness is nine hours rather than the usual eight hours.

Eight and nine don’t equalize into the same number (unless you’re planning to provide portions of a day or increase your sick time up to 72 hours) So you’ll need to perform a little some rearranging in order to make the change work.

8.) Overtime Issues

It is also possible to have problems in the case of overtime. If your team members do not strictly adhere to the specific time schedule (e.g. for instance, they may spend an extra hour on a Tuesday to finish an assignment) it could mean that you are paying more for overtime than you expected.

This shouldn’t be an issue if it occurs once or twice per month for just one or two employees. However, if it happens frequently and with more than a few team members, the added cost will start taking a bite out of your profits.

Don’t let these obstacles deter you from using the 9/80 schedule. Just make sure you reinforce teamwork and cohesion throughout the lengthy work week, and also enforce the guidelines of the schedule to avoid problems with tracking and calculation.

How to Begin Working On A 9/80 Work Scheduling

The most effective way to start implementing the 9/80 schedule is to first look at your corporate, business and functional level plans to determine if this is the best option for you.

The next step is to develop a test schedule to check if it fits your work routine.

In the end, it’s best to talk about the changes with your employees to ensure that they don’t get caught off guard when they begin working for nine hours instead of eight.