A trial - lasting for six months and beginning on 6th June - is being led by 4 Day Week Global, who are campaigning for a shorter working week with no loss of wages.
More than sixty UK companies with over three thousand workers, will take part in a six-month co-ordinated trial of a four-day working week as part of a global pilot programme.
A range of employers have pledged to pay workers 100 per cent wages for 80 per cent of time - provided that the workers commit to 100 per cent productivity. They are joining hundreds of employers and thousands of employees taking part in global trials in Ireland, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel during 2022.
This trial is based on the 100-80-100 model, pioneered by co-founders Andrew Barnes and Charlotte Lockhart in the landmark Perpetual Guardian trial which took place in New Zealand in 2018.
Academics from Oxford and Cambridge Universities - together with the think tank Autonomy and Boston College in the US - will be monitoring the trial.
It is hoped that the UK pilot will provide the evidence and data which clearly demonstrates the feasibility and desirability of a four-day work week across a broad range of industries.
Last year, research by HR software company Factorial identified the four-day week as the most desirable employee benefit.
Joe O’Connor - Chief Executive of 4 Day Week Global - said:
“The UK is at the crest of a wave of global momentum behind the four-day week. As we emerge from the pandemic, more and more companies are recognising that the new frontier for competition is quality of life and that reduced-hour, output-focused working is the vehicle to give them a competitive edge. The impact of the ‘great resignation’ is now proving that workers from a diverse range of industries can produce better outcomes while working shorter and smarter.”
Ed Siegel - Chief Executive of Charity Bank - said his organisation had long been a champion of flexible working, stating:
“…. but the pandemic really moved the goalposts in this regard. For Charity Bank, the move to a four-day week seems a natural next step.
The 20th-century concept of a five-day working week is no longer the best fit for 21st-century business. We firmly believe that a four-day week with no change to salary or benefits will create a happier workforce and will have an equally positive impact on business productivity, customer experience and our social mission.”
Molly Johnson-Jones - Founder of flexible working consultancy Flexa Careers - said:
“This comes just as the debate between advocates for traditional ways of working and staff rebelling against office returns is really heating up, meaning the timing couldn’t be more perfect. In the same way that presenteeism doesn’t equate to productivity - despite what some politicians and business leaders would have us believe - nor do working very specific, fixed hours have a positive bearing on output. The trial should prove this unequivocally and put this debate to bed.”
