From Malcolm Shute, Les Prés Neufs, France
Timothy Revell discusses the mixed benefits of a reduced working week (13 May, p 22). There is at least one further complication: the reductions seen by the employer and employee are not symmetrical, especially if there is no possibility for the employee to work remotely.
If I work an 8-hour day with an hour's commute at each end, my employer considers me to be working a 40-hour week, but I am away from my family for 50 hours per week.
With a 6-hour working day, my employer sees my productivity reduced to 75 per cent, but I benefit only from a reduction to 80 per cent of my time commitment – or less if I account for the time taken to earn the money for commuting costs.
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