The Labour government’s plan to give employees a right to request a compressed four-day week is fuelling a debate on how to ensure a better work-life balance while maintaining productivity.
Given tight labour markets and a shortage of talent, calls for a four-day week will only grow louder. However, as the government maintains it cannot force employers to adopt the model, it will be up to businesses to decide whether they will embrace it and what the best way to implement it would be.
Compressing or reducing working hours?
The four-day model could now find legitimacy in the UK under the new government’s proposal to let people compress their contracted hours into a shorter working week. Employees already have the right to request flexible working, provided that they handle the requests in a ‘reasonable manner’, and employers can turn them down ‘if they have a good business reason for doing so’.
While the government’s plan explicitly refers to workers’ right to request a four-day week, it only allows workers to compress their working hours into four days rather than five, but not to reduce them. This looks like a rebranded version of the four-day week: instead of working fewer hours for the same pay, companies could allow more flexibility in scheduling so that staff work four 10-hour days and then have three days off.
However, advocates maintain that reducing rather than compressing overall working hours, while keeping the same level of productivity, is crucial for a better work-life balance.
What is the evidence for the four-day week so far?
Since the pandemic, several pilot projects have been launched to measure the impact on productivity. The practice is intended to support a positive work-life balance, giving employees more leisure time without paying them any less.
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By GlobalDataIn June 2022, more than 3,300 workers at 70 UK companies began the world’s biggest four-day trial. The pilot ran for six months and was based on the 100:80:100 model: 100% of pay for 80% of the time in exchange for a commitment to maintaining 100% productivity.
Of the 61 companies that participated in the pilot, 18 plan to maintain the four-day working week permanently. A further 38 planned to continue with the trial. A 2023 poll by the Four-Day Week Campaign found the majority of the public (58%) expected it to become the normal way of working in the UK by 2030.
Drawing conclusions from the four-day week trials is difficult
However, drawing broad conclusions from the trials is difficult, as they involve a self-selected group of companies, with more than three-quarters having fewer than 50 employees. It is also challenging to measure productivity in white-collar work.
Earlier in 2024, Morrisons slashed the four-day week for its head office following complaints. Staff had to work some Saturdays to make the system work, which resulted in dissatisfaction.
In July, Asda followed suit in scrapping the trial, after staff complained about longer shifts.
It’s clear that change is coming, but what that will look like is still unclear, and only time will tell whether Labour’s diet version of the four-day week is the best solution.
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