A couple of years ago, between June and December 2022, 61 employers ran a trial organised by non-profit 4 Day Week Global that involving 2900 workers to see how a four-day week would pan out.
Companies, which included a range of organisations from diverse sectors and sizes, were not required to rigidly deploy one particular type of working time reduction or four-day week, so long as pay was maintained at 100% and employees had a ‘meaningful’ reduction in work time. As there is no one-size-fits-all process, employers were permitted to tailor the programme to their needs.
According to a report on Autonomy.work, the trial “was a resounding success. Of the 61 companies that participated, 56 are continuing with the four-day week (92%), with 18 confirming the policy is a permanent change.”
The report also noted that “employees also found it easier to balance their work with both family and social commitments – for 54%, it was easier to balance work with household jobs – and employees were also more satisfied with their household finances, relationships and how their time was being managed.” Further, 60% found an increased ability to combine paid work with care responsibilities, and 62% said combining work with social life was easier.
But as a story on the BBC noted, the trial didn’t work universally: “Some firms abandoned the experiment; others haven’t yet made the move to adopt the format full-time. Even those firms continuing with reduced hours are navigating new challenges arising from shortened workweeks.”
One firm, engineering and industrial supplies company Allcap, joined the trial but rushed the process across its five sites and eventually quit two months early. It found that as opposed to ten normal workdays, employees would have nine extreme ones, and once they got to their scheduled day off, they were exhausted. With holidays, sickness, and caring responsibilities, the firm also found it hard to find cover for an employee on their rest day.
And earlier this year, Morrisons scrapped four-day working weeks for its head office staff following feedback. To make the four-day week work, staff had to work some Saturdays, which resulted in complaints and dissatisfaction.
But another trial being run in October, this time organised by the 4 Day Week Campaign in partnership with flexible working consultancy Timewise, with research support provided by the University of Cambridge, Boston College and the Autonomy Institute. The results of the trial will be presented to the government, which is said to be thinking about enhancing flexible working rights with a new right to work four-days a week – albeit the same pay for the same number of hours.
However, the Department for Business and Trade said: “Any changes to employment legislation will be consulted on, working in partnership with business.” It’s unclear how the change will be made – if at all – but one option is to make it harder for employers to refuse a request.
An ITN report noted that campaigners hope the government will see the four-day work week as a route to bringing much-needed change to the UK. Indeed, Labour MP Peter Dowd, commented: “With the rollout of artificial intelligence… a shorter working week is looking more and more inevitable.” Another Labour MP, Clive Lewis, has spoken about the societal need for change, saying that “overwork, burnout, and mental health issues are far too common, a four-day week is desperately needed.”
Whatever the government plans – or does not plan – employers may want to consider what a four-day working week might mean for them and, in particular, whether joining a voluntary trial might be worth exploring. While nothing has yet been announced, there is a chance of change.