4/10 and 9/80 Schedules Compared, Day by Day

A compressed schedule fits a full-time week, or a full two-week pay period, into fewer, longer days. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management defines the federal versions in its handbook on alternative work schedules; private employers use the same patterns, usually called 4/10 and 9/80.

• Standard: traditional fixed work schedules (e.g., 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week) (OPM, Alternative Work Schedules: Compressed Work Schedules).
• 4/10 (four-day week): A full-time employee must work 10 hours a day, 40 hours a week, and 80 hours a biweekly pay period. (OPM handbook, Four-Day Work Week).
• 9/80 (the handbook's 5/4-9 Compressed Plan): a full-time employee works eight 9-hour days and one 8-hour day for a total of 80 hours in a biweekly pay period. (OPM handbook, 5/4-9 Compressed Plan).

All three come to the same two-week total; OPM's fact sheet says compressed schedules enable full-time employees to complete the basic 80-hour biweekly work requirement in less than 10 workdays. (OPM, Alternative Work Schedules: Compressed Work Schedules).

The two-week cards

The clock times are our example; your employer sets the real ones. Each card has a 30-minute unpaid break a day, so a 9:00 day runs from 7:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Every card below opens in the calculator, where you can change the times to match your own.

Standard: Monday to Friday, both weeks

Four-day week: Monday to Thursday, both weeks

Nine-day fortnight: eight long days and one shorter day

The first week has four long days and a shorter Friday; the second has four long days and the Friday off. That puts 44:00 in the first week and 36:00 in the second.

To check a real compressed schedule, switch the calculator to two weeks and type your own times; the work hours in a year page shows how many hours a full pay period holds.