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In a move that may bring about a change in Britain’s approach to work, a total of 100 UK companies have signed up for a permanent four-day working week with no loss of salary payments to their employees.
Even as these companies with 2,600 employees make up for a tiny fraction of the country’s workforce, the 4 Day Week Campaign group is expecting it may lead to a major shift in Britain’s approach to work, according to The Guardian report.
The group of companies argued that a five-day working pattern is a hangover from an earlier economic age. The companies believe that the four-day approach will boost productivity which means the same output in fewer hours. One of the two biggest companies to have signed up for the four-day week campaign include Atom Bank and Awin.
In June, a total of 70 UK firms conducted a pilot project of a four-day working week with no cut to their pay. The pilot scheme for six months comprised thousands of workers starting from a local fish and chip shop to large financial companies. The program was managed by the not-for-profit 4 Day Week Global, Autonomy, a think tank, and the 4 Day Week UK Campaign in partnership with researchers from the Cambridge University, the Oxford University and the Boston College.
In the trial, the staff got a remuneration of 100 percent pay for 80 percent of the hours they would normally work with the aim of being more productive. The demand to reduce the working week has gained steam in recent years in many countries amid the pandemic. The chorus for fewer days of work has only strengthened with employees switching to remote work during Covid-19, which reduced commuting time and costs offering greater flexibility.
A similar trial of a four-day week in Iceland became an “overwhelming success” and led to many workers moving to shorter hours, as per researchers. The trials, in which workers were paid the same amount for shorter hours, took place between 2015 and 2019.
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