Workweek and weekend

Lore & Background

The present-day concept of the relatively longer 'week-end' first arose in the industrial north of Britain in the early 19th century. It was originally a voluntary arrangement between factory owners and workers allowing Saturday afternoon off starting at two pm, on the basis that staff would be available for work sober and refreshed on Monday morning. The term "weekend" itself is first traced to the British magazine *Notes and Queries* in 1879. The workweek and weekend are complementary parts of the seven-day week, devoted to labour and rest, respectively. In most of the world, the workweek runs from Monday to Friday, with the weekend on Saturday and Sunday. However, the constitution of the weekend varies by region and religious tradition. In many Christian traditions, Sunday is the day of rest; the Jewish Sabbath runs from sunset Friday to full darkness Saturday, leading to a Friday–Saturday weekend in Israel. Some Muslim-majority countries historically observed a Thursday–Friday weekend, though many have shifted to Friday–Saturday or Saturday–Sunday for business cooperation. A minority of countries maintain a six-day workweek with a single day off, such as Friday only (Djibouti, Iran, Somalia, Libya), Saturday only (Nepal), or Sunday only (Mexico, Colombia, Uganda, Eritrea, India, Philippines, Equatorial Guinea). Most nations, however, have adopted a five-day workweek with a two-day weekend, the days differing by tradition: Friday–Saturday (17 Muslim countries and Israel), Saturday–Sunday (most countries), or Friday–Sunday (Brunei, Aceh, Indonesia, Sarawak). The weekend may also be defined by a designated period, such as commencing after 5:00 p.m. Friday and lasting until 6:00 p.m. Sunday, and is sometimes expanded to include post-work hours on the last workday. The push for a shorter workweek gained momentum in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1908, a New England cotton mill instituted the first five-day workweek in the United States to accommodate Jewish workers observing the Sabbath. Henry Ford began closing his factories for all of Saturday and Sunday in 1926, recognizing that more leisure time encouraged vacations and shopping. The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America became the first union to demand and receive a five-day workweek in 1929. Nationwide adoption of the two-day weekend in the U.S. followed a 1940 provision of the 1938 Fair L

Reader's Guide

The workweek and weekend are complementary parts of the seven-day week, with the workweek dedicated to labour and the weekend to rest. In most of the world, the workweek runs from Monday to Friday, with Saturday and Sunday constituting the weekend. However, the weekend’s definition varies: it may begin after a specific time on the last workday, such as 5:00 p.m. on Friday, and extend through Sunday. Some traditions expand the term to include post-work hours on the final workday. The concept of a longer “weekend” originated in early 19th-century industrial northern Britain, where factory owners voluntarily allowed Saturday afternoons off so workers would return sober and refreshed on Monday. The first recorded use of the word “weekend” appeared in a British magazine in 1879. Historically, rest days have taken many forms: ancient Rome held market days every eight days; the French Revolutionary calendar had ten-day weeks with one leisure day; and the Soviet Union used five- and six-day workweeks with assigned rest days. In Han dynasty China, officials had a day off every five days for rest and washing. Religious traditions heavily influence weekend days: Sunday is the Christian day of rest, the Jewish Sabbath runs from Friday sunset to Saturday nightfall, and many Muslim-majority countries historically observed Thursday–Friday weekends. Today, most nations have a five-day workweek and two-day weekend, though some maintain a six-day workweek with a single rest day. The modern two-day weekend became widespread in the United States after Henry Ford closed his factories on Saturdays and Sundays in 1926, and a 1940 federal law mandating a 40-hour workweek cemented the practice nationally. Many countries later shifted their weekends to align with international trade, and the International Labour Organization currently defines a workweek exceeding 48 hours as excessive. Proposals for shorter workweeks, such as four-day schedules, continue to be discussed for their potential social and economic benefits.

Did You Know?

• In Ancient Rome, every eight days there was a nundinae, a market day when children were exempted from school and agricultural workers stopped work.
• During the Han dynasty of imperial China, officials had a day off once every five days known as hsui-mu, a day for rest and washing one's hair.