Most countries consider 40-hour work week, Monday to Friday, the traditional work week. Most people consider Saturday and Sunday to be weekly holidays. Although many service industries like banks are not open on weekends, other types of jobs such as retail, fast food and many entertainment venues are open. So, is Saturday a business day?
Many people have holidays on weekends and so they want to spend time with friends, go to the movies or make a grocery trip for new supplies at home. These kinds of businesses then make Saturdays and even Sundays an extra working day. If these types of services are not open on weekends, no one will go out and spend money. Instead, they will be at home, relaxing on the couch with a movie and their pets.
Another thing to understand is that when some businesses are open on the weekends, their times may change. However, a normal business is usually from 9 AM to 5 PM. For a mom-and-pop store, they may close early so they can enjoy themselves on the weekends. Or in some places, they are opened later so that they can attract more customers to their business.
Some businesses and services such as government buildings, schools, banks and other businesses are on the same day and holiday schedule. This makes it much easier for these groups to keep the same schedule for doing business with each other.
Business day history
But how do business days and weekends all come together? Back in the Industrial Revolution, business was booming. It was a time of great progress and industry that shaped America. At this time, however, the factories worked most of the day and paid very little attention to their workers. This has led to many accidents and even deaths. Children as young as five or six also give labor.
Because of this terrible condition, many people, tired of working, have been injured. As a result, Robert Owen, a Welsh social reformer and industrialist, proposed an eight-hour workday. He said that combined with eight hours of sleep and eight hours of leisure time, it provides the perfect balance for the average worker.
This was not an idea of the later Titan Henry Ford. He noticed that his workers, who worked six days a week, were burned on the sixth day. He has created an experiment where they work five days a week, believing that workers will work much harder if they get two days off in a row. This is why people credit Ford for creating a five-day work week.
In law
President Franklin D. Roosevelt Roosevelt signed the 40-Hour Work Week Officers Act in 1939. Over time these work weeks soon create a new problem. What do you do about people who work more than 40 hours a week? The Fair Labor Standards Act then came into law, declaring that businesses must give their employees half the time to work overtime. This has helped employees not to be taken advantage of by employers.
Work week was created so that employee burnout does not occur. However, they were also given two leisure days that they could spend with their family and do other things. Considering Saturday a business day is a complicated answer. For federal buildings, banks, post offices and many more, no, it is not considered as one. But it’s also a business day for others in many service industries, allowing many to go out and enjoy the activities. This allows businesses to trade for an additional two days if they prefer.
Conclusion
So, yes, Saturday is a business day for many industries. Some remote workers consider it a working day because they probably have a flexible schedule. Yet, for the majority of the population, Saturday is not a working day and they continue to crush Monday-Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM.