‘Ultra condensed’: Company launches 3-day, 14-hour work week

While some Aussie companies are wading into the idea of a four-day work week, a US employer has taken it a step further with stunning results.

Would you cram your full-time work week hours into three days if you could?

If you want to see what that would look like in action – look no further than Kendall Chick-Fil-A in Florida.

Owner Justin Lindsey has taken the global push for a four-day work week one step further, and according to the businessman, the move has paid dividends.

He says the “ultra condensed” work week has improved employee work-life balance, reduced burnout, promoted career growth, and helped staff retention.

“My idea was to provide staff with this gift of time by creating a scheduling system where they would know exactly what days they worked for as long as they work here,” he told the Business Insider.

Mr Lindsey’s model sees his team split into two “pods” which work three-day blocks of 13-14 hour shifts – leaving them with four days off and a full-time wage.

Kendall Chick-Fil-A in Florida owner and operator Justin Lindsey has implemented a three-day work week. Picture: Facebook

“Instead of doing 5am to 1pm, what would it look like to do like 5am to 6pm as an example, and have somebody who’s there for multiple days, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?” he said.

“Then I started looking at what would happen if we took our team leaders and cut the team in half, splitting the team into what’s known as the two “pods.”

“I realised I couldn’t schedule those really long shifts and do a normal five-day work week. That’s why I created three-day segments, where they’d be working with the same group of people day in and day out.

“This would also allow them to get really comfortable and good at working with one another.”

Since rolling out the model in February this year, Mr Lindsey has reported improvements across the board.

Staff are loving the three-day work week model. Picture: Facebook

Employees are left with a four-day break and full pay each week. Picture: Facebook

Most importantly for his staff who say they have a healthier work-life balance and more time for other personal ventures – like college and travel.

“I always say the three-day work week doesn’t work for everyone, but for those that it does, it’s really powerful to see the impact that it has on their lives,” Mr Lindsey explained.

“Recently, I was talking to one of our managers who just graduated from the University of Central Florida. Now she’s going to be pursuing a master’s degree.

“She just poured her heart out and told me point blank that there’s no way she would have been able to graduate if she was working the traditional five-day schedule.”

And it’s not just staff on his payroll allured by the new working model.

How it works. Picture: Facebook

The Chick-Fil-A branch recently recorded 429 job applications in one week.

“I think that’s so powerful because when you look at retention, and you look at why people have traditionally left, based just from my experience, a lack of career growth and development was a big reason why,” Mr Lindsey said.

“This system opened up that growth. On the other side, it also exposes when somebody is struggling and allows us to put them back through that development process that we have.”

Some Australian businesses have already waded into the idea of a four-day work week, but whether or not Mr Lindsey’s model stacks up to Australian Fair regulations could mean four days is as good as it gets for now.

Kendall Chick-Fil-A in Florida started the a three-day work week model in February this year. Picture: Facebook

Last month, Unilever, the multinational behind a catalogue of 400 products, including Dove soap, Magnum ice cream, and Lynx, started a 12-month trial if the four-day work week in its Australian operation.

At the other end of the scale, Melbourne-based salon Pamela Rose Hair also ditched the Monday to Friday grind, skipped lunch breaks and overtime in favour of the trending four-day model with positive results.