UK starts testing four-day workweek without cutting wages

Thousands of UK workers are starting a four-day workweek with no pay cut on Monday in the biggest test of its kind.

The six-month pilot involves 3,300 workers from 70 companies, from financial services providers to a fish and chips restaurant.
During the program, workers receive 100% of their salary for working only 80% of their usual week, in exchange for a promise to maintain 100% of their productivity.

The program is being run by the non-profit organization 4 Day Week Global, Autonomy, a think tank, and the 4 Day Week UK Campaign in partnership with researchers from the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and Boston College.

Sienna O’Rourke, brand manager at Pressure Drop Brewing, an independent brewery in London, told CNN Business that the company’s main objective was to improve the mental health and well-being of its employees.

“The pandemic [nos] made me think a lot about work and how people organize their lives,” she said. “We are doing this to improve the lives of our team and be part of progressive change in the world.”

As the company manufactures and ships products, workers have less flexibility over when and where they work, O’Rourke said. But any difficulties with vacation and sick leave would be addressed as a team.

So far, Iceland had conducted the biggest pilot of a shorter workweek between 2015 and 2019, with 2,500 public sector employees involved in two major tests. These tests found no corresponding drop in productivity among participants and a dramatic increase in employee well-being.

Requests to shorten the working week have gained traction in recent years in several countries. As millions of employees have shifted to remote work during the pandemic – cutting down on costly commute time and costs – calls for greater flexibility have only increased.

Government-backed trials are expected to take place in Spain and Scotland later this year, the 4-Day Week Campaign said in a press release.
Joe O’Connor, CEO of 4 Day Week Global, said workers have shown they can work “shorter and smarter.”

“As we emerge from the pandemic, more and more companies are recognizing that the new frontier for competition is quality of life, and that short-time, production-focused work is the vehicle to give them a competitive edge.” he said in the statement.

The researchers will measure the impact the new standard of work will have on productivity levels, gender equality, the environment and workers’ well-being.