Company Adopts 8-Hour Work Week

SACRAMENTO, CA—A Portland, Oregon based company made news this week when it announced its new 32-hour work week policy. Ryan Carson, the founder of Treehouse, revealed the productivity gains realized by the employees of this online training school following the implementation of the new 32-hour schedule. Carson believes that people who aren’t overworked have a better chance of experiencing an “epiphany moment”.

Upon hearing the news, a Sacramento McDonald’s franchise owner, Wayne Lomath, had his own epiphany moment. “I couldn’t get the idea out of my head”, said Mr. Lomath. “If Treehouse could improve productivity by only cutting back 8 hours, why not really boost performance by cutting back even more?” And that’s just what he did, announcing an 8-hour work week earlier this month to his restaurant employees.

“My employees are thrilled because they only have to be at the restaurant a couple hours a day, usually working with one other employee, but they still earn the same pay as before. I know they’re more productive in those couple hours they are on the job because they are working the register in the store, manning the drive through window, and preparing the food – jobs which used to require dedicated employees at each station. We won’t know for sure until we run the numbers at the end of the month, but I believe it has had a dramatic impact on my business as well. The lines at the registers and at the drive through window have been huge ever since we put the new policy in place.”