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Washing, blow-drying, styling, but only from Wednesday to Saturday – a hairdresser’s shop in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler is only open four days a week. A model for other employers to alleviate the staff shortage?
Daniel Röber’s original aim was to save energy costs. That’s why he introduced a four-day week in his hairdressing business. The balance after a year: His energy costs have hardly fallen, but the fact that the shop is closed for three days still pays off for him as the owner.
“My employees are significantly happier, my creativity and that of my team has increased,” says Röber. “And of course, as an entrepreneur, it’s also nice for me to spend one more day with the family.”
“More time to relax and sleep in”
Leonie Küpper completed her training at Röber’s store last summer. The 20-year-old enjoys having three days off in a row: free time that she can spend with her dog. “I have more time to relax and sleep in. And I can easily schedule doctor’s appointments and other important appointments on my days off and don’t have to do them in the evening after work.”
Even if they only work in his hairdressing business from Wednesday to Saturday, Röber has no financial losses. Because they still work 40 hours a week, i.e. 10 hours a day. Everyone then has three days off in a row.
In times of a shortage of skilled workers, this is definitely an advantage because it binds employees. Leonie Küpper no longer wants to do without the four-day week. For her, this is a small luxury that she doesn’t want to give up so easily. “Because I’ve now felt how nice it is to have a four-day week, it would be difficult for me to simply say again that I’m going to work five days again.”
Work must be well organized
“If employers allow flexible working such as a four-day week, that undoubtedly makes them attractive,” says industrial psychologist Thomas Rigotti from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. But the expert also sees risks. “If the work is not well organized and then an intensification occurs, i.e. in the four days in which work is carried out, there is ultimately a higher level of stress, which cannot be compensated for by the day off.”
The four-day week must be well prepared, and the model cannot be transferred to all companies, according to the expert. In some areas the work simply cannot be completed in four days. “Then there is a risk of unpaid overtime and the day off is lost,” says Rigotti.
Long days are tiring
From the point of view of hairdresser Röber, the four-day week does not have any advantages. “We work 40 hours in four days here in the shop, which is of course tiring.” Afterwards you are happy to go into the weekend. “Of course you’re a bit exhausted after four long days, no question about it,” says the employed hairdresser Küpper. She then has to rest first.
A four-day week with fewer working hours and full wage compensation, as some politicians and employee representatives are demanding, is out of the question for salon owner Röber. “I have to think entrepreneurially. Working less and paying the same amount doesn’t work.”
And it was important for his full-time employees to continue to receive a salary for forty hours, even if they only work four days, says Röber. The way they now handle the four-day week is exactly the right model for him and his business. The advantages outweigh the negatives; the entire team does not want to return to the five-day week.