The TUC has recommended a four-day working week – but can this really work for business?
Four-Day Workweek Trial
A UK company has recently moved to a four-day working week (with full-time pay but with a 20% drop in holiday entitlement) following a successful trial.
The benefits, particularly to health and well-being, were felt to be of enough value to make the move permanent. Benefits recorded from this and other trials are:
- maintenance of job performance
- lower stress levels (from 45% to 38%)
- significant improvement of work/life balance
- much higher team engagement.
Implications of a Shorter Workweek
However, hidden dangers have been noted, including increased health risks and stress when a compressed working week results in long hours on the four days which are workdays.
Four-day weeks might not work for all businesses, but compressed hours are not new, and employees have a right to request flexible working arrangements after 26 weeks of employment.
With a focus on improving mental health, this might be one potential way forward.
We can advise upon flexible working requests and create a flexible working policy for your organisation.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are for information purposes only and should not be relied upon as formal legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article. Specific legal advice should be sort tailored to the individual circumstances in all cases.
