# Eight Days a Week **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 18, 2023, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341 "2023-11-18T21:54:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2023, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/1 "2023-11-18T21:54:58Z")
Has anyone lived in a country or region where society uses an other-than-seven-day week? Five days, eight days, ten days…? I do not mean for religious worship or cultural events; I mean as in the day-to-day cycle of when businesses open and so on, like Revolutionary France. The factual question is how many such places remain. (Inspired by the fact that there remains less than a handful of countries where the Gregorian calendar is _not_ an official calendar.) ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2023, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/2 "2023-11-18T22:02:48Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/3 "2023-11-19T01:16:33Z")
The [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Week) mentions numerous non-seven-day weeks that were used historically, but as far as I can tell, none remain in use today. The most recent was in the Soviet Union up until 1940, and even there it was not universal: > In the [Soviet Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union) between 1929 and 1940, most factory and enterprise workers, but not collective farm workers, used five and six day work weeks while the country as a whole continued to use the traditional seven day week. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/4 "2023-11-19T01:49:22Z")
Some shift workers are on something other than a 7-day week for work purposes, maybe a 4-on, 4-off rotation. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/5 "2023-11-19T02:22:05Z")
I worked for many years in an industry following the Dupont 12 hour swing shift. The schedule went: D = Day shift N = Night shift O = Rest day. Team 1: NNNNOOO-DDDONNN-OOODDDD-OOOOOOO Team 2: DDDONNN-OOODDDD-OOOOOOO-NNNNOOO Team 3: OOODDDD-OOOOOOO-NNNNOOO-DDDONNN Team 4: OOOOOOO-NNNNOOO-DDDONNN-OOODDDD It had a lot of benefits and some disadvantages. Everyone liked the “long off” with a seven day break every 28 days, although the three 12 hour days followed by three 12 hour nights with only one day break to transition was hard to get used to. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/6 "2023-11-19T03:42:44Z")
I know someone who is a firefighter in a city of ~300k people. IIRC his basic schedule was 1 day on, 2 days off. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/7 "2023-11-19T03:44:58Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > 1 day on, 2 days off. I know several firefighters. 24 hours on, 48 hours off seems to be the universal shift for that profession. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/8 "2023-11-19T04:07:53Z")
My firefighter neighbor said they work 8 24-hour shifts a month here. Consequently, a lot of them have side self-employment jobs, with building subcontracting being a common one. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/9 "2023-11-19T11:19:27Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > I know several firefighters. 24 hours on, 48 hours off seems to be the universal shift for that profession. Do they also have to be available for emergencies during their time off? ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/10 "2023-11-19T11:31:42Z")
The five-day Javanese calendar coexists with the “regular” calendar, and certainly informs when certain events are held and in particular when various milestones are celebrated. But of course, it’s all “cultural”, so probably not what the OP is looking for. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/11 "2023-11-19T12:28:48Z")
I think it counts if it determines on what days the supermarket opens, or the post office. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/12 "2023-11-19T13:49:45Z")
The ancient Roman republic used an eight-day week that was, confusingly, called _nundinum_ - “nine days”, because under the counting practices of the time (“inclusive counting”) both the first day of the period and the first one of the next period were counted. ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/13 "2023-11-19T14:53:31Z")
While the 3-group rotation is pretty common, most fire departments in the northeastern US have four groups. When I first started, we worked “10s and 14s” - two 10-hour days, two 14-hour nights, and four days off. Right after I got hired, we switched to 24s. The rest of my career was 24hrs on, 24 off, 24 on, 5 days off, or 1-1-1-5 (an 8-day cycle). Many other 4-group fire departments also work 1-2-1-4 - also 8 days. I still have no idea how firefighters can function on a 3-group system. I was always a bear on my middle day and first day back, there isn’t much recovery time there. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/14 "2023-11-19T15:36:15Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Do they also have to be available for emergencies during their time off? I don’t know the answer to that. I do know that several of them have responded to large fires on their days off. But I don’t know if they must be available a certain number of days when they aren’t working. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/15 "2023-11-19T23:13:29Z")
Like most revolutions where the revolutionaries vie among themselves to see who is the most dedicated, the French Revolution was no exception - the stakes were just higher. Not content with rearranging feet and inches into the metric system they tried the same with the calendar. (Hint - that one didn’t stick). There appear to be three 10-day “weeks” in the month. > **[Thermidor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermidor)** > > Thermidor (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}French pronunciation: \[tɛʁmidɔʁ\]) was the eleventh month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the French word thermal, derived from the Greek word "thermos" (heat). > Thermidor was the second month of the summer quarter (mois d'été). It started July 19 or 20. It ended ... ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2023, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/16 "2023-11-19T23:48:22Z")
It was not a “week”—it was a genuine week where everybody and everything regulated their work and accounting according to a ten-day cycle. The stakes were indeed high, and (unfortunately? fortunately? Depends on your point of view on Church vs State) the seven-day week was brought back along with Catholicism by Napoleon. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/17 "2023-11-20T21:20:03Z")
Yeah. Firemen with a renovation side gig are notorious. The building trades just love those guys. They fuck up a lot of shit. They should stick to putting out fires or at least educate themselvs before picking up the tools. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/18 "2023-11-20T21:24:51Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > My firefighter neighbor said they work 8 24-hour shifts a month here. Consequently, a lot of them have side self-employment jobs, with building subcontracting being a common one. At one of my old jobs (a small market research firm), our building maintenance guy was also a Chicago firefighter; as a result of his rotation with the CFD, he was only able to work at our place 3 or 4 days during a M-F work week, which our company found to be sufficient. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/19 "2023-11-22T04:19:41Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Do they also have to be available for emergencies during their time off? I assume you’re talking about paid depts & not volunteers but that answer will vary by department but probably not. How far from the firehouse do they live? (Latest best practice is to **not** keep your gear with you in your car as the gear can absorb smoke & then off-gas dangerous chemicals. Yes, gear can be cleaned but typically not after every job). How far from home are they when the call comes in? What do they do with their kid, especially if they’re the only caregiver at the moment? Remember, they’re in their own cars, travel time is that of a regular citizen, stopping at all red lights, etc. When do they go on the clock, when they’re sitting in traffic or only when they get to the station? (Most people aren’t paid for their commute). Every FD uses some accountability system to ensure you know who’s there & who’s in the red/danger zone; The manpower officer probably doesn’t want to deal with singles checking in with him, who then need to be paired up with someone to make a team. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341/20 "2023-11-22T06:29:33Z")
Somewhere I read that the air sea rescue crews in the UK are on call for four days and off for two. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eight-days-a-week/993341.md?page=2)