56

THE FIVE-DAY WEEK

The length of the period during which the summer schedule
remained in effect varied considerably. July and August
were invariably included, and while in most cases the summer
 schedule was confined to these two months, instances
were noted in which one or more of the months of May,
June and September were included.
Among the seventy-eight companies that operated a fiveday
 week summer schedule, there was an almost even division
 between those that eliminated the Saturday hours
altogether and those that spread them over the remaining
five days. Some companies felt that it was sufficient to
provide for free Saturdays and that the Saturday hours
should be distributed through the week, while other employers
 felt that unless the Saturday hours were dropped
altogether the whole purpose of the shorter summer schedule
 was defeated. In all but two of the establishments under
consideration, wage rates had been adjusted, or piece workers
 had increased their output sufficiently to maintain normal
earnings.
A few instances of informal or occasional five-day operation
during the summer were found, when, for seasonal or other
reasons of light production demand, the plant would not be
operated on Saturday. This method of curtailing production
had, in the opinion of two employers, proved advantageous
as a means of maintaining a fully trained force throughout
the year, by preventing extended lay-offs with the danger of
permanently losing valuable members of the working force.
One company that does not make a practice of closing the
plant on Saturday has an understanding with its employees
that if their weekly production quota is accomplished by
Friday night, they need not report on Saturday. Very few
of the employees, the company reported, have found it necessary
 to work on Saturdays.
Some companies have utilized the long summer week-ends
in lieu of vacations for the working force, and feel that this
extra time for leisure is just as beneficial when scattered
through the summer as when concentrated in one period of a
week or more. In one establishment, hourly workers who
have been in the employ of the company for at least one
year are paid for three of the Saturdays on which the plant