Ford's 5-Day Week: The Day the Weekend Was Born

What Happened?

Before Ford’s big announcement, most Americans worked six days a week, often for long hours and low pay. But in 1926, Ford Motor Company officially instituted a 40-hour workweek, giving workers Saturdays and Sundays off while still paying them a minimum of $6 a day.

This wasn’t Ford’s first shake-up. Back in 1914, he shocked the world by doubling factory pay to $5 per day and cutting hours to eight. Critics called it reckless. It turned out to be genius. Productivity soared and worker turnover plummeted.

The five-day week came with a philosophical twist. Edsel Ford, Henry’s son, said workers needed more time for rest and family. Henry Ford himself argued that 'leisure is not lost time'—a bold idea in an era that prized constant labor.

Of course, there were business benefits too. Ford knew well-rested workers made fewer mistakes. He also knew workers with weekends free might just start buying the very cars they were building. A well-paid, well-rested workforce was also a consumer base.

The 40-hour workweek became a national model, adopted into law by the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938. But it all started with Ford’s risky, radical idea: that time off wasn’t laziness—it was liberty.

Why It Matters

Ford's move didn’t just change the factory floor—it reshaped American life. The weekend became a cultural norm, the 40-hour week a legal standard. It was a major moment in the long fight for worker rights and human dignity. And it reminds us that better working conditions don’t just benefit workers—they build better societies.