This month thousands of workers across the country have begun undertaking a 4 day working week trial. 70 different companies are taking part from a variety of different industries including hospitality, banking and care. The trial, which is thought to be the largest of its kind in the world, is expected to last for 6 months.
As part of the experiment, workers will get the same pay for working 80% of their usual hours. The aim is to increase productivity across the workforce, incentivising staff to work harder in order to enjoy an extra day off.
It will be managed by Oxford and Cambridge universities, as well as Boston College in the US, in partnership with the think tank Autonomy. As a result, it is anticipated that there will be detailed statistics available on how it works in practice, including the impact on productivity, the environment as well as staff wellbeing and gender equality, which may be enough to convince more businesses to take part in the future.
In particular, it is expected that how employees respond to having an extra day off will be carefully monitored, looking at the impact on health, sleep, job and life satisfaction, stress and burnout. If all these measures improve, as well as productivity, then it is thought that more businesses may look to introduce a 4 day working week in the future, giving them a competitive edge to attract and retain staff, which will certainly be of interest given the difficulties that so many employers are experiencing with recruitment at present.
If you are thinking of introducing a four day working week, or changing your working practices, we can advise on what you should consider and the processes that must be followed. Contact the employment team today on 0345 646 0406 or fill in our online enquiry form and a member of our Team will be in touch.