How to use the four day work week calculator
- Enter your weekly hours and days worked now, for example 40 hours over 5 days.
- Enter the days on the new plan and the weekly hours on the new plan. Keep the hours the same for a compressed week, or enter fewer hours to price a shorter week.
- Enter your hourly pay and choose whether the new plan keeps the same hourly rate or the same weekly pay.
- Open Advanced options to change the paid weeks in a year or add your round trip commute in minutes. Read the hours per day, the weekly and yearly pay for each plan and the commuting time saved. Use Copy, Print or CSV to keep it.
Formula
Hours per day = weekly hours / days worked
Weekly pay = weekly hours x hourly pay
Rate for the same weekly pay = current weekly pay / new weekly hours
Commuting hours saved a year = days removed x commute minutes x paid weeks / 60
A year is counted as the number of paid weeks you enter, 52 unless you change it. The comparison is arithmetic on the numbers you enter and does not include overtime rules.
40 hours in 4 days at $25 an hour
Today you work 40 hours over 5 days, which is 8 hours a day, and earn $25 an hour. On a four day plan with the same 40 hours, each day becomes 40 / 4 = 10 hours. Weekly pay stays 40 x $25 = $1,000, so yearly pay over 52 weeks stays $52,000.
If the new plan is 32 hours at the same rate, each day is 8 hours and weekly pay is $800, which is $10,400 less over 52 weeks. If you keep the same weekly pay of $1,000 for 32 hours, the hourly rate must rise to $31.25. With a 50 minute round trip commute, one fewer day saves 50 x 52 / 60 = 43.3 hours of commuting a year.
Compressed week or shorter week
There are two different ideas under the name four day week. A compressed week fits the same hours into fewer, longer days, so each day grows by a quarter. A shorter week cuts the total hours, often to about 32, and keeps pay the same. This calculator handles both, because the only things that change are the weekly hours and whether the rate or the weekly pay stays fixed.
Longer days are a real trade. Ten hour days leave less time at home on the days you work, and some people find the last hours of a long day less productive. A shorter week avoids that but depends on the employer agreeing to the pay. Use the table to see both sides in numbers.
Check the rules that apply to you
In some places, working more than a set number of hours in a day counts as overtime even if the week stays at 40. Whether a 10 hour day triggers extra pay depends on where you work, your contract and sometimes a written agreement with your employer, and this tool does not model it. To price overtime separately, use the overtime calculator.
Paid time off can also change. A paid holiday that used to be 8 hours may become 10 hours or stay at 8, which changes what a week off really costs. For the full picture of a month or year, see the working hours per month calculator and the hourly to salary calculator.
Assumptions and limits
- Pay is hourly pay times hours. Salaried arrangements, bonuses, overtime premiums and benefits are not modeled.
- A year is the number of paid weeks you enter. The default of 52 is an example you can change.
- The hourly pay and hours shown at first are examples, not recommendations or common values.
- A day cannot be longer than 24 hours, and the calculator tells you when the hours do not fit.
Frequently asked questions
How many hours is each day on a four day work week?
Divide the weekly hours by the days. Forty hours over four days is 10 hours a day, and 32 hours over four days is 8 hours a day.
Does a four day week pay less?
Not if the weekly hours stay the same, since you work the same total. It pays less only when the hours drop and the hourly rate stays put. Choose same weekly pay to see the hourly rate that would keep the paycheck unchanged.
How is the commuting time saved worked out?
It multiplies the days removed from the week by your round trip commute in minutes and the paid weeks in a year, then divides by 60 to get hours.
Can I use this for nine days in two weeks or other plans?
You can model any weekly pattern by entering the weekly hours and the number of days you work in a normal week of the plan, using the closest weekly pattern.