On this day in 1926: The Ford Motor Company became one of the first in America to adopt a five-day, 40-hour workweek for automotive factory workers. This decision, made in 1922, aimed to promote a better home life for employees. Edsel Ford, company president, emphasized the importance of rest and recreation for a proper work-life balance.
TRANSCRIPT
It was on this day in 1926 that the Ford Motor Company becomes one of the first companies in America to adopt five-day, 40-hour weeks for automotive factory workers. That decision to reduce the work week from six to five days had originally been made in 1922 but wasn’t implemented until 1926. According to an article published in The New York Times that March, Edsel Ford, Henry’s son and company president, explained quote “Every man needs more than one day a week for rest and recreation….The Ford Company always has sought to promote [an] ideal home life for its employees. We believe that in order to live properly every man should have more time to spend with his family.”