By Harriet Calver,
Senior Associate at Winckworth Sherwood [1]
A
six-month pilot has recently been announced in which participating employers
will trial a four-day working week for all employees with no corresponding
reduction in pay and researchers will examine the impact of this on employee
productivity and well-being.
The pilot will run from June 2022 to December
2022 and is being co-ordinated by not-for-profit 4 Day Week Global, think-tank
Autonomy, the 4 Day Week UK Campaign, and researchers at Cambridge University,
Boston College and Oxford University.
Similar trials have already taken place in
Iceland, New Zealand and Japan and have concluded that a four-day week boosts
productivity, increases wellbeing and work-life balance, and leads to fewer
instances of stress and burnout. The aim of this new pilot is to establish
whether the same findings are replicated in the UK and whether a large-scale
move to this more sustainable way of working is commercially viable.
How does this differ to existing arrangements
offered by employers?
A four-day working week is not a new
phenomenon. Many employees in the UK already work a four-day week, however,
this is typically agreed on a case by case basis between employee and employer
following a flexible working request. It tends to be accompanied by a
corresponding reduction in pay, except in the case of “compressed hours” in
which case the employee is simply squeezing the same number of hours into a
shorter week.
In the current pilot the situation is slightly
different in that the employees will be doing one day’s less work but for no
less pay. The logic behind this is that employees won’t be measured on how long
they are at work, but the output they produce, with those running the pilot
seeking to prove that the shortened week will in fact result in greater
productivity and output rather than less.
What are the potential benefits for employers?
For employees, the advantages of working one
less day a week for the same amount of pay are obvious: they will have more
free time and having more time to do the things they enjoy will inevitably
increase overall happiness. But in what ways could the reduced working
week benefit employers?
Improving employee happiness and well-being has
many potential commercial benefits for employers as outlined below.
Increased performance and productivity:
In simple terms, a happier, rested worker is a
better worker.
Trials have shown that a four-day week
increases productivity, largely because happier, more fulfilled employees are
more focussed on their jobs and efficient when in the workplace, whereas
discontented staff are less efficient and tend to distract their co-workers. By
way of example, an employee who is working 5 days per week (100% of working
hours) at 70% output will be less productive than an employee working 4 days a
week (80% of the hours) at 100% output.
Rested minds are also much better when it comes
to innovation and creativity, which is key for the success of most businesses.
Reduced absenteeism:
Sickness absence costs UK businesses billions
of pounds every year and a significant proportion of sick days are a direct
result of overwork, stress and mental health issues. In fact, studies show that
stress is the leading cause of long-term sickness absence.
Having a longer weekend allows employees more
to time to rest and recharge after a busy week and do things they enjoy, which
naturally leads to reduced stress levels and an improvement in well-being.
Recruitment and Retention:
Research has shown that the four-day week is
the benefit most desirable to employees. Unsurprising perhaps, but it is nevertheless
a rare offering and so it is a great way for an organisation to stand out from
the field and attract the best talent. This is especially relevant in the
current job market where good candidates are in very high demand and are
prioritising flexible work patterns when looking for new jobs.
The four-day week is also reported to increase
employee engagement, keep employees motivated and generally increase loyalty to
the employer. These factors inevitably lead to better retention levels and
therefore a reduction in the costs and disruption associated with employees
leaving and needing to be replaced.
Social and Environmental Impact
For employers who are concerned about their social
and environmental impact, a four-day working week is a great way to showcase
this and to make a genuine difference. Research has shown, for example, that a
four-day week increases gender equality, considerably reduces a business’s
carbon footprint and leads to employees making more environmentally positive
choices as they have more time on their hands.
What are the potential pitfalls?
If an organisation is asking for 100%
productivity from employees in consideration for a reduction in working hours,
it is going to be critical to have the right support, technology and workplace
culture in place to enable this. Without this, inefficiencies will inevitably
arise which will undermine the success of the shorter working week. The reality
is that some businesses simply won’t have the correct infrastructure or culture
in place initially, meaning that it will take time and potentially expense for
them to effectively make the shift to this new way of working.
In addition, although the success of the
four-day working week model relies on employees doing fewer hours, there is a
danger that unless clear parameters are set in relation to working hours,
employees’ hours could creep up to previous levels if the workload is the same,
resulting in longer and more stressful days for these employees. If this
happened, wellbeing and productivity would most likely decrease rather than
increase, negating the benefits of the shorter week. For employers who adopt
the four-day working week, it is therefore crucial they are mindful of this and
keep track of employees’ working hours.
In customer facing businesses, a potential
pitfall of the four-day working week is not being able to properly service
customers leading to poor customer satisfaction. For example, if an organisation
shuts its office on the fifth day, when it was previously open, customers may
complain they cannot access services when they want to, or previously could.
Whilst this could be a potential issue for some organisations, it should be
overcome fairly easily by most simply by keeping the business open for five
days a week but staggering the days which employees do their four days so the
entire week is still covered.
For employers who currently have a number of
employers working four days a week, on reduced pay, particular care will need
to be given as to how the change will impact the existing arrangements of these
employees, and how it is communicated to them. A 20% pay rise may be a welcome
windfall for these employees, but potential issues could arise if these
employees feel there is expectation which comes with it. For example, they may
be concerned they will be required to work harder, be 20% more productive
and/or work more hours to earn this additional income, rather than continuing
as usual but on a higher salary. Employers with existing part-time employees
should therefore give this issue careful thought to avoid potential problems
arising once the new arrangements are implemented.
How do you know if a four-day week is right for
your business?
A four-day working week model clearly won’t
suit every business and will require genuine support from both leadership and
the employees, as well the appropriate technology and infrastructure, to give
it any chance of success.