The “summer Fridays” that some US companies give their employees and how they benefit the company too

During the long, sunny days of summer, many workers want to start the weekend as soon as possible.

While most employees must answer emails and participate in video calls from Zoom until 5 pm, at the end of the work week, a small group has the freedom to start their weekend plans much earlier.

This is thanks to “summer fridays“ or “ Summer Friday”, a benefit that some US firms offer employees to leave work early, or even take the day off every Friday, during the months of June, July and August.

It’s a big plus, says Vicki Salemi, a consultant for job search site Monster.com, that he experienced “summer Fridays” for the first time when he accepted a job that offered that benefit in New York City.

“I remember it was glorious, because every Friday afternoon I went to the Met museum”.

Beyond giving employees additional time off, Salemi explains that the purpose of this measure is to boost the commitment and morale of workers.

It is also to take advantage of the lull of summer that many white-collar industries experience, as staff and their customers often take vacations during those months, for what there is less work to do (studies show that productivity drops for these reasons in the summer).

A temporary benefit

There is not much concrete data on the history of “Summer Fridays”, but some stories of its origin suggest that it began in the decade of 1960 In New York.

In true Mad Men style, advertising executives left early on Fridays to begin their journey to the Hamptons, the rural and wealthy area east of Long Island.

The first records of this benefit appear in the New York Times in 1988, in an article that highlights its benefits for the city.

“From the point of view of management, summer hours are acceptable because they have a limited duration and, unlike a salary increase or better medical coverage, they do not become a permanent part of the salary benefits package”, he points out.

Today, “Summer Fridays” are still strongly associated with New York and are common among workers in sectors such as finance, technology, and media.

But in recent years they have spread further and become more common. Some data suggest that around % of US companies offered the benefit in 2015.

In 2017, the 42% of US Fortune Companies 1000 surveyed by the research firm CEB (now Gartner) applied on “summer Friday”.

A luxury of some

But as many workers know, leaving early on Fridays is a luxury that is not within everyone’s reach. It is a benefit that depends largely on the industry.

“This is something that is not distributed equally among the labor force. They are definitely white-collar workers, highly educated, skilled workers (in industries) where the summer is slow on the workload,” says Stephan Meier, a management professor at Columbia Business School in New York.

Many jobs are as busy on Friday as any other day, such as in hospitals and hospitality, so taking time off is not an option.

Salemi also targets e-commerce, logistics and manufacturing as examples of sectors where “Summer Fridays” would not work so well, since those industries do not have breaks.

In addition, some industries have a peak of work in the summer: a Both of New York’s fashion weeks take place in late summer or early fall, for example, so Big Apple fashion workers have to work more, not less.

Furthermore, “summer Fridays” tend to benefit permanent employees and exclude employees in less beneficial conditions. iosas, such as independent workers or temporary employees.

Salemi also points out that if the bosses with autonomous personnel (freelancers) are not active, these workers are not they assign tasks, and they may earn less money, especially if they are paid by the hour.

“It can affect your working hours and workflow and income,” he says.

“In some cultures, in some companies, it can be a personal pressure that you put on yourself” not to take “summer Fridays”, says Salemi.

If a boss is checking messages when he’s supposed to be rested, this completely defeats the point of “summer Fridays”. Therefore, not all workers who have this option actually reap the rewards.

A “retention strategy”

The question is: could this benefit be extended to a broad sector of workers?

Some experts say it is possible, since the wishes and demands of workers have changed, and become stronger, in the midst of the pandemic.

After all, the pandemic has shown that workers value flexibility above all else, and “summer Fridays” are certainly part of it . In addition, they can help companies manage the stress of their workforce.

“Although they are an existing benefit since before the pandemic, it is an easy way for Employers can address burnout and help employees balance working multiple years in one role and work-from-home life,” says Allison Sullivan, careers expert at careers site Glassdoor.

Salemi agrees that this modality is conducive to improving mental health and curbing exhaustion.

On the other hand, Meier says that “summer Fridays” are “a strategy of retention”: a benefit that some workers may value even more than money, especially if it is a relatively small raise.

That, he says, could imply that “summer Fridays” become more common, because “increasingly em prisoners are understanding what motivates people” in terms of advantages and benefits, and it is not about installing ping-pong tables or giving free snacks.

“They are not something that all companies can implement successfully, but the companies that actually do it will have a competitive advantage”, considers Meier.

Furthermore, in an era that has seen seismic shifts in work, “ Summer Fridays” fuel a debate that is accelerating in the wake of the pandemic: whether companies could introduce the four-day work week .

“Definitely could be a great test” for shorter workweeks throughout the year, Salemi says, as long as workers aren’t hoarding 50 working hours in a Monday-Thursday schedule.

Meier agrees: “I totally believe there’s a way we can figure out how much we can actually do in four days,” he says. “Let’s give people more Fridays off: Fall Fridays, Spring Fridays.”

For now, however, “summer Fridays” remain a coveted treat that offers valuable time off for some lucky workers, and it’s a benefit that almost all workers would certainly appreciate.

“Summer won’t last forever. It will pass very quickly,” says Salemi. “So let’s enjoy it.”

You can read the original version of this article on BBC WorkLife.

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