four-day week

/fɔːr deɪ wiːk/

Common

A work schedule of four days instead of five, typically at the same pay.

Distinct from compressing 40 hours into 4 days. The version most people advocate for is 100% pay for 80% of the time, with the expectation that productivity stays the same or improves.

Real-world examples5 examples

#	Example	What it means	Source
01	Iceland ran a four-day week trial for years and productivity went up. Just saying.	Evidence supports that working fewer days does not reduce output.	x, 2022
02	My company went four-day week in January. I've gotten more done since then, not less.	Personal experience confirms that productivity held up after switching to a shorter week.	linkedin, 2023
03	I don't need a four-day week, I need a two-day week. But I'll take what I can get.	Dark humor: four days is still too many but it's better than five.	tiktok, 2023
04	Why are we still treating the five-day workweek like it's a law of physics? Four-day week is right there.	The five-day week is a historical convention, not a fixed requirement.	reddit, 2022
05	They offered a four-day week instead of a raise. I took it. No regrets.	Time was valued over money, and the tradeoff worked out.	x, 2023

Use it when

Describing or advocating for a 32-hour workweek at full pay.
Reacting to a company or country trialing or adopting a four-day schedule.
Talking about the movement to reduce the standard workweek.

Do not use it when

The person is working 10-hour days to compress 40 hours into four days.

Variations and related forms

four-day workweek

Alternate phrasing used interchangeably with four-day week.

32-hour workweek

The numerical equivalent, emphasizing the hour reduction rather than the day count.

Origin and context

The concept of a shorter workweek has been discussed since the 20th century. The modern four-day week movement gained momentum from large-scale trials in Iceland (2015-2019), Japan, and the UK (2022), which showed maintained or improved productivity with reduced hours.

First seen: 2020s
Confidence: medium

Cite this page

Use this stable URL to reference the entry.

https://slang.fyi/four-day-week

Updated: 2026-08-28License: CC BY 4.0