In the United States, employees typically work five days a week for eight hours each day.However, many employees want to work a four-day week and are willing to accept less pay in order to do so. A mandatory policy requiring companies to offer their employees the option of working a four-day workweek for four-fifths (80 percent) of their normal pay would benefit the economy as a whole as well as the individual companies and the employees who decided to take the option.
在美国，职员一般执行的一周五天，每天八小时工作制。然而，很多职员希望能够改为四天工作制，如果能够满足需要可以接受薪水降低。要求企业提供薪水八成工作四天的工作方式供员工选择对于国家整个经济都是有好处的，同时获益的还有个人，以及执行这个政策的公司。
The shortened workweek would increase company profits because employees would feel more rested and alert, and as a result, they would make fewer costly errors in their work. Hiring more staff to ensure that the same amount of work would be accomplished would not result in additional payroll costs because four-day employees would only be paid 80 percent of the normal rate. In the end, companies would have fewer overworked and error-prone employees for the same money,which would increase company profits.
减少工作日会提高公司的利润，因为员工们会感到很轻松和精神，这样他们就会在工作中较少犯那些可能会带来损失的错误。为了完成同样的工作量将需要雇佣更多的人手，但是这不意味着需要支付更多的薪水，这是因为四天工作日只需支付给每个员工 80%的工资。这样，公司花同样的钱，员工这会过于劳累和失误连连了，这样将会提高公司的利润。
For the country as a whole, one of the primary benefits of offering this option to employees is that it would reduce unemployment rates. If many full-time employees started working fewer hours,some of their workload would have to be shifted to others. Thus, for every four employees who went on an 80 percent week, a new employee could be hired at the 80 percent rate.
对于国家整体来说，给职员提供这样的选择选择的好处就是可以降低失业率。如果原来全职工作的人缩短了工作时间之后，他们的部分工作就需要转给其他的员工。这样，如果每个员工每周都只工作 80%的时间，这样就可以以同样的工作时间来雇佣新员工了。
Finally, the option of a four-day workweek would be better for individual employees. Employees who could afford a lower salary in exchange for more free time could improve the quality of their lives by spending the extra time with their families, pursuing private interests, or enjoying leisure activities.
最后，这种四天工作日的选择对于员工个人来说也是有利的。那些可以接受用降低薪水来增加休息时间的员工可以提高他们的生活质量，因为他们有更多的时间陪家人、追求自己的兴趣、以及享受一些休闲生活。
需要提取的观点是：
- Main point: A mandatory policy requiring companies to offer their employees the option of working a four-day workweek for four-fifths (80 percent) of their normal pay would benefit the economy as a whole as well as the individual companies and the employees who decided to take the option.
- Sub point 1: The shortened workweek would increase company profits.
- Sub point 2: the country as a whole will benefits.
- Sub point 3: the option of a four-day workweek would be better for individual employees.