CHAPTER V
VARIATIONS OF THE FIVE-DAY WEEK

A LTHOUGH only instances of year-around five-day
week operation have so far been treated, reference
has occasionally been made to more temporary arrangements.
 It seems desirable to take cognizance of these
because many permanent five-day week plans have grown
out of temporary experiments with this schedule, and also
because in some industries or localities the temporary fiveday
 week schedule might be practicable when a permanent
basis of such operation would not be.

Tue Five-Day Week in SUMMER

The most common adaptation of the five-day week is to
arrange the summer work schedule on this basis. It has for
years been the practice of many mercantile houses to eliminate
 Saturday work during the summer, frequently as a
reward to the employees for working full Saturdays during
the remainder of the year. There seems to be a growing
tendency in industrial establishments to adopt this practice.
Seventy-eight manufacturing companies, in addition to those
on an entire year five-day week basis, were found to be
operating on a five-day summer schedule.
The motive most frequently expressed for adopting this
shortened summer schedule was to reduce strain of work
upon employees at the time of year when this strain is most
acutely felt. Particularly where quality of workmanship
was suffering because of disagreeable and fatiguing working
conditions due to the heat, a longer rest period each week was
considered as a practical corrective for this condition.
Furthermore, a shortened working schedule was looked upon
as less of a problem in the summer, because of general subnormal
 business activity during that period, so that reduced
production at that time might prove as much a boon as a
disadvantage.