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What Do We Mean By a Four Day Week?
Cutting the standard 38-40-hour working week from five days to four days – though it would likely be applied to schools, colleges and universities too. Some advocates may go further and suggest cutting back to a 28-32-hour working week across four days.
While the idea may sound impractical, the five-day/40-hour working week was itself a radical position pushed by trade unions during the late 19th Century (when 60-70+ hour weeks were commonplace). During that period, the concern was about child labour and dangerous working practices. In the 21st Century, it’s more about “money rich, time poor” employees who earn relatively high salaries but are subject to lengthy commutes, have to adhere to a culture of presenteeism and/or expectations of overtime as well as being contactable 24/7.
The EU’s Working Time Directive limited most over-18s to a maximum 48-hour working week, but following the completion of Brexit there’s a chance this could eventually be repealed or relaxed in the UK.
Case Studies
Most trials of a four-day week have taken place voluntarily within individual companies. A four-day week is seen as a long-term aspiration by some governments, while the idea was recently put forward by Wales’ Future Generations Commissioner (more on this later). A “four-day week” has also been put forward as a proposal for economic recovery from Covid-19 pandemic – though it was being discussed before then too.
The company trialled a four-day week for eight weeks starting March 2018. They did this by reducing the working week to 30 hours and giving staff an extra weekly paid day off. Pay remained unchanged. Following the trial, the company reported increased workplace commitment and job satisfaction. Levels of stress amongst employees reportedly fell by 7 percentage points (thought stress wasn’t eliminated). The company introduced a permanent opt-in four-day week from November 2018.
During 2019, Microsoft’s Japanese office closed on Fridays for a five-week trial with no reduction in pay. The company also restricted meeting times and face-to-face meetings (somewhat relevant concerning the Covid-19 pandemic). The result was an increase in sales, workplace happiness and employee productivity. It hasn’t been adopted permanently as far as I can tell.
The fast food chain introduced a trial four-day working week for managers from March 2019 (eventually rolled out to a third of their restaurants) to improve recruitment and retention as they set out to expand. Unlike the other two examples, managers are still expected to work 40 hours a week, but across four ten-hour shifts with an extra day off. Pre-pandemic, Shake Shack was one of the fastest-growing fast food chains in the US.
Four Day Week: Arguments For & Against
Increased workplace productivity – Nearly all case studies I’ve come across have demonstrated an increase in productivity, effectively meaning an increase in the amount of work an employee is able to do in a given time. Having an extra day’s rest may naturally result in a boost to productivity by enabling or psychologically conditioning people to work longer and harder during four days knowing they’ll have an extra day off to recover.
It may not be solely a case of improving productivity in the sense that workers produce more. It’s simply about the more efficient use of time – doing the same amount of work in fewer days mathematically increases productivity. Also, having four days to do things may result in dropping behaviours or processes which get in the way (old-fashioned management practices, pointless meetings, imagineering, blue sky thinking etc.).
Decreased stress & improved job satisfaction – While a four-day week doesn’t eliminate stress or make people fall in love with their jobs, many companies which have adopted or trialled a four-day week have seen reductions in stress and increases in workplace satisfaction. This is naturally good for employee retention and recruitment. Plus, having a happier workplace would have a knock-on impact on an employee’s pride in their work; Microsoft Japan’s experiment saw sales increase by 40%.
Improved work-life balance – Having more free time to pursue hobbies, family time or outside interests is always a bonus, which would have a knock-on beneficial impact for the arts and semi-professional sports for those who might struggle to balance them with work, as well as an opportunity to better fit routine chores around employment. There would naturally be an environmental benefit by cutting the impact of commuting by a fifth (where applicable).
“Five days work in four days” – The idea that all businesses, public bodies and organisations would unilaterally give everyone an extra paid day off every week is naive. The expectation would likely be four 10-hour shifts a week, potentially making problems with childcare and alike worse. Being in the workplace by 9 am would become 7 am if you still want to leave by 5 pm. More progressive employers may adopt a 30-32 hour week, but they’ll likely have the revenues or anticipated productivity boost to do that which not all businesses – particularly small businesses running on tight profit margins – will be able to do. That leads neatly into….
It doesn’t suit all business models or working environments – There are some jobs where a four-day week simply won’t work or would have limited impact including the self-employed (who are supposed to have complete flexibility anyway), health & social care, manufacturing, retail and time-sensitive research & development. The companies which have openly discussed a four-day week tend to be open to collaborative working environments or are mainly desk-based jobs in the creative, service and tech sectors who are naturally able to have people come and go at different times or can work remotely if needed. The four-day week may end up becoming an exclusively white collar privilege.
Scheduling and customer service issues – If workplaces switch to a four-day week then schools would likely need to as well (though this isn’t a deal-breaker; French schools often run a 4-day week with longer school days). You would also assume that if people had the option, a majority would take either a Monday, Wednesday or Friday off. If there isn’t an equitable adjustment to shift patterns and in determining when people have their extra day off, then employers could find themselves short-handed on “unpopular days”.
What Are The Alternatives?
There already exists a legal right for employees to request flexible working arrangements, regardless of their circumstances. Another possible alternative is an opt-in shorter working day. In France, the standard working week is 35 hours in law with any hours worked beyond that counted as overtime. Some employers in the UK may already finish early on a Friday.
This has been put forward regarding political offices in Wales, but there could be an extended statutory right to request a job-share (which is included under current statutory flexible working requests), which would mean two employees filling a full-time role. It may help reduce unemployment levels in light of automation and digitisation and aid the retention and recruitment of people with caring responsibilities. The problem is it’s effectively part-time working and it would resultingly mean a drop in income (unless it was supported by something like tax credits, negative income tax or a universal basic/citizens income).
At present, full-time workers in the UK are entitled to 28 days paid annual leave a year (based on a five-day working week and including public holidays). You could implement a four-day week via the back door by increasing this to 52 days in total. It would then be down to the employee as to how to book their time off.
This wouldn’t be suitable for all working environments, but for some employers, it may have a similar effect to a four-day week if they allowed or actively encouraged employees to work remotely (i.e. in a shared office space closer to home) or from home at least one day a week (or the equivalent of one day a week spread across a year).
How Could Wales Introduce a Four Day Week?
As things stand, the statutory/legal introduction of a four-day week would require independence or the devolution of employment law/rights.
That said, I doubt anything is preventing the Welsh Government introducing a four-day week in devolved public services (particularly the school system) if they wanted to – but I doubt that will happen.
During 2020, the Future Generations Commissioner suggested introducing a four-day week (based on a 30-32 hour working week model) to increase employment (by spreading work across more people) and to protect the environment. However, it was suggested this should be a pilot and backed by a concurrent pilot of a universal basic income.
While it’s also been suggested that Finland are considering introducing a four-day working week, it was just a suggestion and not a formal policy.
If it does happen, it’ll likely be voluntary/opt-in – whether that’s as a process guided by law (similar to statutory flexible working) or left to individual employer’s preferences. The idea will have to have a trend behind it and more case studies to prove to sceptical employers and the public alike that it’s a way forward.
Increased remote working (for those able to do so) and statutory job-sharing is a more likely medium-term outcome.
A reduction in the working week (to 30-32 hours) can’t realistically happen in the economy (as it’s presently structured) without some form of negative income tax or basic income as the main argument against will be a 20% cut in salaries. That said, recent research suggests that companies with more than 50 employees should be able to introduce a four-day week if it was accompanied by higher productivity or price rises – though it would need to be carefully planned and gradually introduced.
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