UK Offices To Try Out A Four-day Working Week, Trial Will Last For 6 Months

After Iceland, UK is on its way to allow employees to work just four days each. The trial was launched in the United Kingdom today.

According to reports, company employees will work for just 80 percent of their normal week at 100 percent of their pay to see what difference it makes on productivity, as well as the well-being of the employee.

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It¡¯s called the 100: 80: 100 model ¨C you get full pay for 80 percent of the work, but must agree to work at 100 percent productivity.

The trial will be six months long and is being performed by 4 Day Week Global along with think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week UK campaign and researchers from Cambridge University, Oxford University, and Boston College.

The business and companies that will participate in this programme will receive support from the organisers - it includes access to experts within the field who will provide mentorship as well as research by top academics.

The plan is to get 30 businesses on board and mirror programmes that are planned elsewhere in the world this year. Then, research will be carried out to ascertain what effect the four-day working week had on productivity for the business, as well as the wellbeing of its workers and impact on the environment and gender equality.

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One of the participants involved is Edinburgh-based Canon Medical Research Europe, which employs 140 people. Their president Ken Sutherland said: ¡°We recognise that working patterns and the focus that we all give to our work-life balance has changed substantially during the pandemic.

¡°As a responsive employer we are always looking at how we can adapt our working practices to ensure that employees find their time with us is meaningful, fulfilling and productive. ¡°For this reason, we¡¯re keen to pilot a four-day week to see if it can work for us.¡±

Other studies in the past have proved that a four-day week is better for both productivity and worker wellbeing. However, there is more research needed.

Joe O¡¯Connor, the 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. We are excited by the growing momentum and interest in our pilot program and in the four-day week more broadly. 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."

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