What is the debate surrounding the four-day working week?

More than 30 companies in the UK will trial a four-day working week in June 2022. The trial, coordinated by 4 Day Week Global, aims to establish if flexible working can improve productivity. For six months employees will work 80% of their usual hours with no loss of pay, and will be expected to maintain the same level of productivity as they would have whilst working a normal five day week. Researchers will measure the impact on productivity, well-being, the environment, and gender equality.

Advantages

One potential benefit of working a four-day week is improved productivity. A previous trial conducted at Microsoft in Japan found that there was a 40% rise in productivity. It has been seen from previous trials that working longer hours does not necessarily boost productivity, especially when those long hours have a negative impact on health and ability to work. Reducing working hours has the potential for employees to become more focused on what they need to do and therefore become more efficient. The researchers behind the UK trials are confident that reducing working time in this way will enable businesses to move away from simply measuring time spent "at work", to a better model which places more focus on the output being produced.

Another expected advantage that comes with a four-day working week is improved employee well-being. Factors such as reduced sickness absence, retention of employees and being recruitment-attractive are all benefits that could stem from improved employee well-being. 4 Day Week Global states that "63% of businesses found it easier to attract and retain talent with a four-day work week". The trial hopes to bring a better work life balance as employees will have more time to spend with their family or pursue hobbies outside of work.

Gender equality is also something that may be more easily achieved with a four-day working week. Having a four-day working week will allow all workers more time for caring responsibilities. Since women tend to bear the majority of the caring burden, a shorter work week may make it easier for them to achieve full time, secure, well-paid work.

There may also be environmental benefits. Working fewer days reduces the days employees will be commuting to work and may reduce the amount of energy required to run offices. This in turn reduces the business’s carbon footprint, thus making the business more environmentally sustainable.

Disadvantages

There are, however, potential disadvantages to the four-day working scheme. Stress and burn-out is one factor that is a concern for businesses. Employees may struggle to refrain from working the fifth day to maintain the amount of work done. Employees may also become more stressed trying to work at the same level of productivity in four days rather than five.

Some worry that the four-day working week could create a two-tier workforce as some sectors will struggle to move to four-days. Sectors such as healthcare, education and manufacturing may find it harder to work four-days, whereas sectors such as banking and media will find it easier.

Other considerations

Many part-time employees already work less than five days week with adjusted pay. As the trial involves no reduction in pay, part-time employees may request an equivalent reduction in their work week (with no change to their pay). This may be difficult for employers to manage as it may result in a reduced workforce availability potentially affecting the organisation's output and profit. Employers may be left wondering what the solution is for their part-time employees. The 4 Day Week Campaign proposes four options:

• increase the pay of staff on part-time hours to adjust for hourly increases in pay that the reduction in working time would result in;
• reduce the hours of people working part-time in line with reductions everyone else is going through (without a commensurate reduction in pay);
• adjust annual leave entitlement to recognise the large uplift created by a four-day week; and/or
• a combination of the above.

Employers will need to carefully navigate this issue and in particular the output/productivity of part-time employees, versus those on the four-day week formal trial, whose productivity and pay will not change.

Holiday entitlement is also something to consider. The 4 Day Week Campaign anticipates that holiday allowances will remain the same during the trial but employers may be unwilling to sustain this should the four-day working week be implemented permanently. The Campaign suggests that holiday allowances would need to be reduced in line with the overall reduction in working hours. For those who currently work five days a week, this would mean a 20% reduction in their holiday allowance. Employees may decide this is a fair trade-off for an extra day off each week with no impact on their pay.

Employers may decide that offering a four-day working week may bring benefits to recruitment and retention of employees as they will be one of the first to make this shift. If more businesses decide to make this change, others may feel they need to follow in their footsteps.

Ultimately employers will need to establish what is right for their business before making this change. If you have questions about how to implement changes to your employees’ normal working hours contact our Employment Team by emailing employment@warnegoodman.co.uk or by calling 023 8071 7717.