UK businesses trial four-day work week

The UK is trialling a four-day working week as part of a six-month pilot programme. The programme is organised by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week UK Campaign and researchers at Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College.

Participating businesses will trial the shorter week with no loss in pay for employees based on the principle of the 100:80:100 model, 100 per cent of the pay for 80 per cent of the time, in exchange for a commitment to maintain at least 100 per cent productivity, said City AM. Fashion companies like Desigual successfully adopted the format last October.

New technologies have made alternative work arrangements (e.g., remote work, flexible scheduling) possible and are dramatically changing the way work gets done. Their appeal is not difficult to understand considering their promised benefits. Workplace flexibility can reduce commuting time and congestion, allow global collaborations, and reduce business costs such as office overheads, making them appealing to policymakers and employers.

4 Day Week Global, a not-for-profit coalition of business leaders, community strategists, designers, and advocacy thought leaders invested in the transition to reduced working hours. Founded by Andrew Barnes and Charlotte Lockhart to provide a platform for like-minded people interested in supporting the idea of the 4 day work week as a part of the future of work.

Joe O’Connor, Pilot Programme Manager for 4 Day Week Global, said: “More and more businesses are moving to productivity focused strategies to enable them to reduce worker hours without reducing pay.”

“The four-day week challenges the current model of work and helps companies move away from simply measuring how long people are ‘at work’, to a sharper focus on the output being produced. 2022 will be the year that heralds in this bold new future of work.”

Article source: City AM and 4 Day Week Global