Work hours & pay
Four-day week calculator
Enter your current weekly hours and pay and pick a four-day model; see the day length, your new hourly rate and the days off you gain.
Days off per year count weekends plus the fifth day, before public holidays and leave.
How the four-day week is calculated
There are two common models. A compressed week keeps the same hours and spreads them over four days, so the day length is weekly hours ÷ 4. A reduced week, often called 100-80-100, keeps the pay and cuts hours to 80%, so a 40-hour week becomes 32 hours of four normal 8-hour days. The effective hourly raise is old hours ÷ new hours − 1, which is 25% whenever hours drop to 80%.
Example: 40 hours a week, $52,000 a year and 47 working weeks. Today that is 1,880 hours and $27.66 an hour. On a reduced week you work 1,504 hours, so the same pay is $34.57 an hour, and you save 376 hours a year. On a compressed week you still work 1,880 hours but in 10-hour days. Either way you gain 47 extra days off, raising the total from 130 to 177 days a year before holidays.
| Weekly hours now | Compressed day (÷ 4) | Reduced week (80%) | Hourly raise on reduced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 8 h 45 min | 28 h | 25% |
| 37.5 | 9 h 23 min | 30 h | 25% |
| 40 | 10 h | 32 h | 25% |
| 45 | 11 h 15 min | 36 h | 25% |
Which model suits you
A compressed week is the easier one for employers, since output hours stay the same, but long days are tiring and leave little room for errands, school runs or a commute that already takes an hour. Ten hours of work plus a lunch break and travel can mean twelve hours away from home. It works best for jobs with clear shifts and fewer interruptions.
A reduced week relies on doing the same work in less time, usually by cutting meetings, handoffs and low-value tasks. In the UK pilot run in 2022 by 4 Day Week Global with researchers, 61 companies tried reduced hours with no pay cut and 56 of them kept the four-day week after the six-month trial. That is a strong result but not a guarantee for every role, especially customer-facing ones that need cover five days a week.
When negotiating, check how leave, public holidays and overtime are counted under the new pattern. A public holiday falling on a work day is worth 10 hours on a compressed week and 8 on a reduced one, and that difference changes how many hours of leave you need.
Frequently asked questions
How many hours a day is a four-day week?
On a compressed week you divide your current hours by four, so 40 hours becomes four 10-hour days. On a reduced 32-hour week the days stay at 8 hours and the fifth day is dropped.
Is a 32-hour week at the same pay a raise?
Per hour, yes. Earning the same for 80% of the hours raises your effective hourly rate by 25%, for example from $27.66 to $34.57 on $52,000 a year over 47 weeks.
How many extra days off does a four-day week give?
One per working week, so about 47 to 52 a year depending on how many weeks you work. With 47 weeks, total days off rise from 130 to 177 before public holidays.