End of the 40 hour work week

As if job cutbacks weren't bad enough, here comes another bright idea to save money.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003847815

 

it will definitely save money, but at what expense as far as the product is concerned? And how many employees will bail since in effect their pay (which is probably not the greatest already) is getting cut?

 

This is already happening at a paper in Idaho.

 

Owned by the same company, IIRC.

 

Is this just an excuse to skip out on benefits by calling employees part-timers?

 

No, because I think they have to offer them to employees over 29 hours....

 

Unfortunately it's not going to be the end of the 40-hour work week. It's just going to be the end of the paid 40-hour work week.

 

Cutting paychecks back from a 40-hr basis to a 37.5-hr basis is simple.

Scheduling people for five 7.5-hr shifts is easy enough.

Getting your work done in 2 1/2 fewer hours can be awfully difficult -- especially if you were already working 45 or 50 hours -- and even in a perfect world, it's doubtful that the paper will seriously accept a 6.25 percent reduction in productivity, copy produced or handled, etc.

This just means donating more hours to the job than folks previously were donating.

 

Or using that time to find other employment.

 

If they're having to take a 2.5-hour pay cut per week, well, that sucks. But many places pay 37.5 as full-time - it's nothing new.

 

So what paper in Idaho is doing this? Lewiston?

 

I can't remember the last time I worked as little as 40 hours a week.