Don't try to contact Melbourne digital agency Versa on a Wednesday. It's shut.

Key points: A Melbourne app developer has eliminated the Wednesday "hump day" working two mini-weeks either side of it

A Melbourne app developer has eliminated the Wednesday "hump day" working two mini-weeks either side of it Employees still work a 37.5 hour week, but productivity has increased

Employees still work a 37.5 hour week, but productivity has increased Globally cutting workers' hours has had mixed success

Employees at the busy maker of apps, augmented reality products and websites work 37.5 hours a week, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

On Wednesdays there are no client meetings, no deliveries, no "pitches" for new business and no expectation of checking emails.

The private company has been doing it for a year, chief executive Kathryn Blackham said, and the data is in.

"We are three times more profitable than we were last year, we have grown by 30 or 40 per cent in the last year in terms of revenue, and we have got happier staff and who are much more productive," she said.

"So all of the factors that you would have thought would have gone down because we're working 20 per cent less — in theory we're working one day less, although we are doing longer days on the other days — actually we've seen them increase dramatically".

Kathryn Blackham had two small children when she founded the business a decade ago. She's attempted multiple ways to build flexibility for staff, such as giving people random or fixed days.

But the need to work in collaborative teams across projects meant it didn't work. A year ago, she shut the door on Tuesday night and closed the office until Thursday morning.

Versa chief executive Kathryn Blackham killed off 'hump day" and her business has thrived. ( ABC News: Daniel Ziffer )

Beyond happier, less-stressed staff, the first thing Ms Blackham noticed from having two "mini-weeks" was a renewed focus and intensity during all four days the office is open.

"I know a lot of workplaces have that kind of those Monday morning 'feels', where there's a bit of a vibe in the office, people are bantering back and forward. And in the end you get that kind-of 'hump day' [on Wednesday], which is a little bit harder to do," she said.

"By the time we get to Thursday it's like a Monday again. You get a new feeling of enthusiasm and cracking on with work, collaboration".

Managing director Jonny Clow had worked at large global advertising agencies and was convinced it wasn't going to work. With most jobs in advertising running 7:30am to 7:00pm as standard, he couldn't see how the loss could be made up.

"To lose a whole day — 20 per cent of revenues — you know it's hard for us to make money as it is. This is a people business, so to think that you are not earning ... that was a shock," Mr Clow said.

Logically, he said, you would consider a four-day working week to end on Thursday, creating a long weekend each week. Creating two short weeks meant staff treated Friday as "a proper working day" and schedule medical appointments, errands and the like on the Wednesday.

"I'm very used to, as an Englishman, going in with the doom and gloom you have on Monday, and 'suicide Tuesday' ... all that kind of stuff just goes away," Mr Clow said.

The office environment is a hum of focus, but you can feel a difference.

Milo the Cavoodle wanders around, staff break off into meeting rooms, and two staff hold a yoga session in one of the small meetings rooms during the lunch hour. This week industry publication Ad News crowned the Melbourne agency its Employer of the Year.

Jury out globally

University of Melbourne professor of management Peter Gahan said average working hours were creeping up in Australia, at the same time as a growing group of people report underemployment — a desire for more hours.

International examples are mixed.

To redress unemployment in France, the working week remains at 35 hours.

Some local government areas in Sweden have been experimenting with a shorter working week for the same reason, while improving the wellbeing of employees.

"France had a short-term effect where in fact we saw unemployment rates for different groups, particularly young people, begin to fall, but that wasn't sustained over time," Professor Gahan said.

Professor Peter Gahan argues shorter working hours does not mean a proportionate cut in productivity. ( Supplied: Worksafe Tasmania )

There was also concern about labour costs hampering the ability of France to compete within the European Union and globally, and big business pushed back on the regulation.

In Sweden "the jury is still out", Professor Gahan said.

An experiment in a major regional city Gothenburg saw reduced working hours for some workers, to compare them with workers whose hours weren't reduced.

"The preliminary results from that experiment suggest in fact they were able to maintain productivity levels by and large, and there was some benefits for workers in terms of wellbeing and other types of outcomes," he said

Resistance to change

Working weeks of 50, 60 and even 70 hours are not uncommon in service industries, even if they are proven to be inefficient.

Kathryn Blackham says it's natural for firms to be resistant to a radical idea like hers.

"It comes down to one word, and that's fear," she said. "And I think that's fear of having to trust your own staff — that they're going to do the right thing"

Professor Gahan said innovative approaches like Versa's could help with attracting and retaining skilled staff.

"We do see, if you like, a range of effects that come through that mean that a reduction in working hours doesn't mean that there's a proportionate reduction in productivity.

"In fact, through the course of these effects you can get improvements in productivity, improvements in efficiency and a lowering of your production costs as a consequence," he said.

Something to think about, on hump day.