A Chick-fil-A restaurant is trying a 3-day work week and the results are undeniable
Reduced work weeks have been a proven success for 9-to-5 jobs, but it looks like the restaurant industry might also be due for a revamp.
Longer hours, but more days off.
Four-day work weeks have become increasingly more mainstream in corporate business settings. With productivity levels remaining the same—at times, even increasing—and with employees less subject to burnout, the appeal is palpable.
However, many restaurant workers do not have 9-to-5 schedules. “They’re literally working 70 hours a week, week in and week out,” reflected Chick-fil-A operator Justin Lindsey in an interview with QSR Magazine. His store in Miami had achieved top sales, but usually at the expense of the staff, who would even joke about going home to collapse after a shift.
In an effort to “do better,” Lindsey came up with an unconventional solution: a three-day work week.
Rather than cutting hours, Chick-fil-A employees would have a week’s worth of hours condensed into a set of three 13- to 14-hour shifts (keeping in mind that Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays). While Chick-fil-A is not without its questionable business practices, the fast-food restaurant chain's experimental approach to work schedules that might make an overall positive impact. This could potentially help workers arrange consistent childcare, work on other projects and have more time to simply do what needs to be done in their life outside of a job.
Though those might seem like extremely long shifts, they are actually not all that different from a normal day. “It’s rare, especially for a leader, even in a five-day week, to work less than 10 hours a day,” Lindsey told QSR. “So if you gave [employees] the option, I think a lot of them would say, ‘oh yeah, I can suck it up a few more hours if you really only let me work three days.’”
This Chick-fil-A is implementing a “3 Day Work Week” where employees work three, 12 hour shifts.
— 𝓔𝓵 𝓟𝓪𝓽𝓻ó𝓷 (@ZBankEnt) October 29, 2021
They make $17/hr, while remaining full time and rotate weekends. pic.twitter.com/BAx4Tx10Ke
Aware that the long-term logistics might not be feasible—the aforementioned long hours, plus challenges in time-off requests—Lindsey was candid with his team from the get-go that this was “uncharted territory,” and that things would be figured out as they go.
So far, the transparency and people-first attitude has paid off. Not only has the Miami store achieved top-earning status and received a flood of 400 applicants, there’s been a 100% retention rate at the management level. But for Lindsey, it was never really about that. “Truly, from the bottom of my heart, I’m doing this because I think it’s the right thing to do,” he said.
Even more so than reducing work days, it’s giving people the power of choice that has made a positive difference. Workplace burnout is caused in part by the feeling of having little-to-no control while trying to balance adhering to a company’s bottom line and spending time with family and loved ones, maintaining physical and emotional wellness, or working on fulfilling projects. The result is emotional exhaustion, which unsurprisingly doesn't lead to much productivity.
The impressive results that Lindsey and his Chick-fil-A team have accomplished, along with that of other companies exploring shorter work weeks, offer a bit of uplifting news against headlines of “quiet-quitting/firing” and “The Great Resignation,” and hopefully pave the way forward to a healthier relationship with work on a global level. For an industry that is particularly notorious for providing low wages, poor working conditions and little respect to even the most loyal of employees, it's nice to see that some restaurant managers are attempting to move in a more compassionate direction.
Good things happen when employees are treated as human beings, plain and simple.
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An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids… 
Imagine having to go so badly but being out of euros. 
Anything hobbit-esque can't be wrong. 
But what if you need pain meds AND mascara?!
Imagine how this would affect childcare.
Honestly…where's the lie? 
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Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
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Close-up of bottom of ladybug found in colonPhoto credit: 
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."