As the business world moves further into a ‘We Work’ culture, mirrored with the continuous need for flexible working conditions, we are exploring the intensive working day and whether it can be beneficial for SME’s.
The more you ask around, the more you hear that companies are offering their employees ‘work from home days’, ‘four day working weeks’, ‘the infamous coffee-induced ‘coffice’ days’ and various other so-called benefits to accommodate the new generation’s ever-yearning, ideal working conditions.
One of the types of employee-benefit driven working conditions that we are going to cover in the below article is the intensive working day, what it is, and it’s advantages.
What is the intensive day?
We begin with a quick snapshot definition of the intensive work day; essentially, it’s any daily work day that takes place without any pause. And, by the term ‘without any pause’ we refer to a working day where lunch breaks are excluded.
Wait, a whole day without lunch? That’s illegal. You got it, the law states that if any continuous working day lasts more than six hours, it is mandatory to take a break of at least 15 minutes. As the employer, you can decide if you want to make it longer or not. However, unless previously stated, this break will be unpaid or considered effective work. So what advantages can this method actually provide you small-to-medium enterprise?
What advantages can I expect to see with intensive working?
On initial glance, you may be thinking that the intensive day will have more negative effects on your business than positive ones. However, there are five great benefits associated with this type of practice. Let’s take a look at them below;
- Increase in motivation. By knowing that the employee is only going to be spending a limited amount of time of his day, they will be more likely to begin and finish their day with greater happiness and with an open mind to be more effective.
- Increased performance. By increasing happiness, the employee will pay closer attention to their tasks. However, the increased performance levels don’t happen due to being happier, it also stems from the fact that they have less time to perform and complete tasks, the employee will therefore be more organised.
- Lower stress levels. Working less means you have more time for leisure and socialising, and this inevitably has a positive impact on their stress levels during work hours.
- Less absences. With all the above benefits, employees are less likely to be absent or use their sick days, this is because they already have less time to complete tasks.
- Improve your business’s image. Plus, with all of the benefits mentioned above means that your company is perceived in a better light, both internally and externally.
However, before you implement this practice, you will have to consult with your local labour laws in your area, and you must conform to the annual calculation of hours for tax purposes. If you wish to work less hours than required by law, then you can always justify it as an employee benefit.
That being said, the law doesn’t actually require any specific type of working day in any specific period of time. So, ultimately, it will all depend on your company and how you justify your decision to offer your workers intensive working days. Are you ready to offer this benefit to your employees?
Finally, as we are facing one of the most intrinsic desires of your employees, you can use Holded’s human resources management tool, to help you manage how to effectively monitor what hours your employees are working and what benefits they receive.
