Two hundred companies in the UK have now permanently transitioned to give their employees a four-day working week with no change in their pay.
The companies, which together employ more than 5000 workers, include charities, marketing, IT, consulting, PR and tech firms, according to 4 Day Week Foundation.
The foundation has been championing the move towards a new working model of a four-day, 32-hour working week with no reduction of pay for workers. Its campaign director, Joe Ryle, said the newly signed up companies have all been recognised as permanently accredited four-day week employers under the 4 Day Week Foundation’s Employer Accreditation Scheme.
Speaking on BBC’s The Bottom Line podcast, Ryle said that the reduced number of working days is not about workers becoming lazy or being less productive.
“People want a better balance,” he said. “This isn’t an idea that is about anti-work, this is about having enough time in our lives to be able to live freely and do all the things we want to achieve.”
“I am afraid 9-5, five-day working week doesn’t give that opportunity for most people.”
In Australia, similar moves have been happening with companies trialing a four-day work week in the past few years. In August 2022, 4 Day Week Global, a non-profit organisation initiated the four-day work with twenty companies for six months, with almost every company reporting by the end that they wished to continue with the four-day week model. Over 50 per cent of employees reported an increase in their productivity compared to their lifetime best, while 64 per cent said they experienced reductions in burnout.
Founded in 2019, 4 Day Week Global provides companies with pilot programs to administer the four-day work week, with success stories in the US, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. The organisation bases its principles on the 100:80:100™ model, which refers to 100 per cent pay for 80 per cent of an employees’ time while maintaining 100 per cent output.
One of the leading countries pushing for the four-day work week is Japan, where the government has been promoting the model to help working parents and to reverse the country’s record-low fertility rates.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced plans to give parents of children in grades one to three the choice to reduce their salary in exchange for clocking off early in the day.
“We will review work styles … with flexibility, ensuring no one has to give up their career due to life events such as childbirth or childcare,” Tokyo’s Governor Yuriko Koike said back in December.
“Now is the time for Tokyo to take the initiative to protect and enhance the lives, livelihoods and economy of our people during these challenging times for the nation.”