MOST Americans will get a four-day work week next month thanks to a longstanding rule that has been in place for decades.
An upcoming holiday means hard-working Americans will get paid for the whole week, yet will only be required to work four of the five days.
Memorial Day is a federal holiday that always takes place in May and is observed annually on the last Monday of the month.
The holiday honors those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and allows the nation to thank and pay tribute to all US military personnel who have died in service.
It is an official paid holiday for federal employees and many businesses, which was established by Congress in 1971 to create a three-day weekend.
Despite the significance of the holiday, a 2025 study found that only half of Americans know why we celebrate.
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In a survey of 2,000 people, just 48% percent knew why Memorial Day was considered a holiday.
Formerly known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day will be observed this year on Monday, May 25.
It is one of the few four-day work weeks in the United States, and holidays are the only time Americans will get one that’s less than five days.
The pros and cons have long been debated as to whether a five-day work week is still fit for purpose, with new research released in April arguing that it’s a waste of time.
The report from nonprofit advocacy group 4 Day Week Global found that employees “can accomplish as much in a 33-hour workweek as they can in a 38-hour workweek.”
Experts ruled that the 5-hour gap difference is most likely being filled not with productivity, but procrastination.
Almost all of those who took part in the study found that productivity went up, as did motivation, when their working week was slashed by a day.
These workers were given a paid day off each week, but an identical workload to measure whether they could accomplish the same amount in a compressed time frame and with less stress.
Employees wound up reducing their average work time by about 4 hours during the first 6 months of the trial period.
Within the same window, workers reported improvements in burnout, overall health, and job satisfaction.
“There is truth to the idea of working ‘smarter, not harder,’ and research supports that well-rested, motivated employees tend to be more
productive and creative,” Sunny Bonnell, CEO of branding agency Motto,
told Fox News after the study was published.
