Every weekend should be a three day weekend!

bank holiday
image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/chair-table-adirondack-air-white-1286220/

A top Bank Holiday quote on social media is every weekend should be a three day weekend!

And who wouldn’t agree with that?

The Green Party agrees and announced at their recent Spring Conference that they would be looking into making a longer weekend a reality.

The Guardian newspaper gave the Green Party leaders, Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartlay, the opportunity to explain their ideas further in the case for a three-day weekend is clear – let’s start planning now.

But the idea of a three day weekend or a four day working week isn’t new. Back in 2014, Lisa Evans at Fast Company reported on companies where the four day week was the norm and she explained the reasons why the companies had adopted the idea.

For oldies like me, a shorter working week has been tried before. Back in 1974, the Prime Minister of the day, Edward Heath, announced a series of measures to conserve fuel in the United Kingdom. From the start of 1974, factories, shops, offices and businesses were restricted to only three days of consecutive energy consumption each week enforcing a three day working week. There were several reasons why the country was in the state where such restrictions became necessary but my twenty three year old self thought a shorter working week was a great idea. The three day week came to an end on March 7th and life returned to normal.

Prior to 1834 there were 33 Bank Holidays but the Bank of England reduced these to four: Good Friday, Christmas Day, May Day and All Saints’ Day.

In 1871, the Bank Holidays Act was passed in parliament which determined that in addition to Christmas Day and Good Friday, there would be Bank Holidays on Easter Monday, Whit Monday, Boxing Day and the first Monday in August.

In 1971, the August Bank Holiday was changed to the end of August. New Year’s Day became a Bank Holiday in 1974; May Day in 1978.

And as for the Bank Holiday weather…..

….. wet and windy seems to be the norm in most places today. Unlike 2011 which saw the warmest UK April for more than 100 years.

Whatever the weather where you are, hope you’re enjoying a great Easter Bank Holiday Monday.