Four-day working week adopted by more than 200 UK companies
More than 200 UK companies have made the permanent switch to a four-day working week with no loss of pay, marking the latest milestone in the campaign to change the way British people work.
The companies range from marketing agencies, IT firms and consultancies to those in the charity sector, and collectively employ more than 5,000 people.
Joe Ryle, campaign director of the 4 Day Week Foundation, said the five-day working week was “invented 100 years ago and is no longer fit for purpose”.
Instead, his organisation is pushing for a four-day week with the same pay and benefits as those working five out of every seven days.
He said: “As hundreds of British companies and one local council have already shown, a four-day week with no loss of pay can be a win-win for both workers and employers.”
“With 50% more free time, a four-day week gives people the freedom to live happier, more fulfilling lives.”
The latest landmark signals growing popularity for less onerous working patterns at a time when large corporations are forcing their employees to return to the office full-time.
US investment bank JP Morgan and tech giant Amazon have demanded staff come back to the office every day despite having allowed hybrid working patterns for the last five years since the Covid-19 pandemic.
And former Asda and Marks & Spencer chief executive Lord Stuart Rose claimed earlier in January that remote working does not amount to “proper work”.
Wellbeing
The 4 Day Week Foundation’s campaign, by contrast, aims to promote people’s wellbeing over hours spent at work.
Marketing and press relations firms made up 30 of the companies adopting the policy, while charities, non-governmental organisations and social care companies accounted for 29.
They were followed by 24 in technology, IT and software, while 22 companies in the business, consulting and management sector have also offered four-day weeks to their workers.
A new poll by Spark Market Research suggested that 78% of 18 to 34-year-olds believe a four-day working week will become the norm within five years, while 65% said they do not want to see a return to full-time office working.
Spark managing director Lynsey Carolan said that “18 to 34 (year-olds), the core workforce of the next 50 years, are making their feelings known that they don’t intend to go back to old-fashioned working patterns.
“This group also say that mental health and improving their overall wellbeing are their top priorities, so a four-day week is a really meaningful benefit and a key enabler of their overall quality of life.”
It comes after South Cambridgeshire District Council brought in the four-day system for some staff.
The trial for desk-based staff was introduced at the start of 2023, before it was expanded to include people working in its waste collection service.
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Having worked much longer hours than that only partly remunerated in the NHS as a doctor from 1982 to 2015 I can see the sense. The only thing is to avoid shifts longer than 9 hours because the need for breaks and fatigue means that most people flag after about 8 to 9 hours. In other words it’s more cost effective.
If you are in a 7 day week operations business where a service is required it gives opportunities to employ more people but downside is higher employment costs for some businesses can have adverse effect especially with higher NI costs coming in.
Businesses in public sector who adopt it are protected to some extent as they have taxpayer to fund those moves, especially if they do not want to cut services to those taxpayers.
Lord Muck Rose at the one extreme and the 4 day week apostles at the other seem to ignore the need to adapt to the nature of the service/business. Also within any organisation there are parts that may need to operate anything between 8 and 24 hours while others will have shorter operating profiles. The challenge for managers is to design working patterns that cover the operating profiles without reliance on overtime. Union reps should ensure that people whose work patterns involve unsocial hours should receive additional premiums for those hours.
When these 200 businesses profits start to fall this will end in tears.
Seems to good to be true!!!?