Thousands of UK workers test out four-day workweek with 100% pay
Thousands of workers in the United Kingdom are starting a four-day work week from Monday (June 6) with no cut to their pay in the largest trial of its kind worldwide.
The six-month pilot program, which involves 3,300 workers across 70 companies in Britain will be the latest study to assess the effects of a compressed workweek.
The 4-day week pilot starts tomorrow! 🥳
— 4 Day Week Campaign (@4Day_Week) June 5, 2022
For the next 6 months more than 3000 UK workers will enjoy the equivalent of a standard bank holiday every single week.
And the best thing about it? This could be the future of work for everyone.
Who’s excited? 🙌
Companies ranging from large corporations in the banking industry, IT software training, professional development and legal training, to skincare, food and beverage, and even a local fish and chip shop are taking part in the pilot program that will see workers receive 100% of their pay for working only 80% of their usual week. Employees must promise to maintain 100% of their productivity despite the shorter hours.
The pilot program is being run by not-for-profit think tank 4 Day Week Global, Autonomy, and the 4 Day Week UK Campaign in partnership with academic researchers from Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College in the United States.
The pilot follows similar efforts in other countries, including Iceland, New Zealand, Scotland and the United States, where companies embraced greater flexibility in work hours as more people worked remotely and adjusted their schedules during the pandemic.
Millions of employees worldwide switched to remote work in the past two years, cutting commuting time and costs, but still managed to get work done and maintain the same levels of productivity.
Previous studies showed that employees reported "greater well-being, improved work-life balance, and a better cooperative spirit in the workplace" with the shortened work hours.
Government-backed trials are also set to take place in Spain and Scotland later this year, the 4 Day Week Campaign said in a press release.
CEO of 4 Day Week Global Joe O'Connor said that the workers have shown they can work shorter and smarter hours within the new set-up.
"As we emerge from the pandemic, more and more companies are recognizing that the new frontier for competition is quality of life, and that reduced-hour, output-focused working is the vehicle to give them a competitive edge," he said in the statement.
Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, a programme manager at 4 Day Week Global, the campaign group behind the trial, said it will give firms "more time" to work through challenges, experiment with new practices and gather data.
Smaller organisations should find it easier to adapt, as they can make big changes more readily, he told AFP.
Pressure Drop, based in Tottenham Hale, is hoping the experiment will not only improve their employees' productivity but also their well-being.
At the same time, it will reduce their carbon footprint.
The Royal Society of Biology, another participant in the trial, says it wants to give employees "more autonomy over their time and working patterns".
Both hope a shorter working week could help them retain employees, at a time when UK businesses are confronted with severe staff shortages, and job vacancies hitting a record 1.3 million.
The 20th-century concept of a five-day working week is no longer the best fit for 21st-century business. We firmly believe that a four-day week with no change to salary or benefits will create a happier workforce and will have an equally positive impact on business productivity, customer experience and our social mission.
Researchers will measure the impact of the new working pattern on overall productivity levels, the environment, wellbeing of its workers, and gender equality.
“We'll be analyzing how employees respond to having an extra day off, in terms of stress and burnout, job and life satisfaction, health, sleep, energy use, travel and many other aspects of life,” said Juliet Schor, Professor of Sociology at Boston College, and lead researcher on the pilot.
CEO of Charity Bank Ed Siegel, one of the baking institutions participating in the pilot, said their company is a champion of flexible working and the move to a four-day week seems like the “natural next step.”
“The 20th-century concept of a five-day working week is no longer the best fit for 21st-century business. We firmly believe that a four-day week with no change to salary or benefits will create a happier workforce and will have an equally positive impact on business productivity, customer experience and our social mission,” said Siegel.
Earlier this year, the Department of Energy (DoE) backed similar proposals of a four-day workweek and extended work-from-home (WFH) setup in the Philippines amid soaring fuel prices, transport, and work-related expenses.
During President Rodrigo Duterte’s Talk To The People on March 15, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi stated that lessening workdays and extending the work-from-home policy could lessen the fuel consumption of working Filipinos.
“We also support ‘yong panukala na four-day work week at palawigin natin ang work-from-home at maiwasan ang pagbiyahe ng ating mga mamamayan (We also support the proposal for a four-day work week and the extension of work-from-home set up for the public to avoid traveling),” Cusi previously said.