CHAPTER 111
THE TECHNIQUE OF THE FIVE.DAY WEEK
SCHEDULE

S° radical a departure from prevailing practice as the
entire discontinuance of plant operation on one day of
the week other than Sunday is not likely to be
adopted unless the management of the individual plant is
satisfied that, in its particular case, there are good reasons
for doing so, and that the best interests of the company will
not thereby suffer. The reasons given by plant officials who
have made this change are not necessarily the only considerations
 that dictated the advisability of the change, but
these reasons, discussed below, indicate the more obvious
motives influencing the adoption of the five-day week
schedule.

Reasons ror ApSprion oF THE Five-Day Week
The reason most frequently avowed by reporting companies
 for substituting a five-day for a five-and-one-half or
six-day schedule is to give employees more leisure time.
While it may be granted that the average employer of today
is genuinely interested in promoting the welfare of his workers,
 it is difficult to believe that so important a departure
from established practice is due primarily to the desire to
provide a free week-day for the enjoyment of the working
force. It seems rather more reasonable to assume that something
 additional should be read into this reason for shortening
the work schedule. It may be believed by these employers
that the extra day of leisure and recuperation would make
for higher efficiency during the five days of operation and
therefore be a justifiable administrative expedient. Or, the
more far-sighted employer, of broad social feeling, may
conclude that the increasing pace and intensity of modern
manufacturing procedure, with its resultant nervous strain
upon the worker, would make too prolonged an application
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