7:41 am, February 21, 2023
The majority of businesses that took part in a trial of a four-day working week will continue with the new hours after hailing it a major success.
Some 61 companies took part in a six-month scheme from June to December last year where they put staff on 32-hour weeks.
Crucially they committed not to reduce their wages despite cutting working hours by 20 per cent.
Staff said they felt less stressed, had improved wellbeing and were more likely not to quit their jobs as a result.
At least 56 out of the 61 firms that took part said they will now continue with four day weeks, 18 said they had already made it permanent and just three had to stop the trial early.
Businesses taking part in the study were from across a variety of industries including five charities, seven in professional services, eight in marketing and advertising, and a handful in education, online retail and healthcare. Even a fish and chip shop in Norfolk got involved.
Car dealerships are notorious for their long working hours, which often include weekends.
Some have recently stopped opening on Sundays to improve the quality of life for staff and have since reported no noticeable downturn in business as a result.
Barretts announced Sunday closing at the turn of the year to improve staff’s ‘work-life balance’ and in October last year Pentagon said it would trial a similar move.
In this week’s Car Dealer Podcast, Stephen Whitton of mental health organisation Menable said car dealership working environments were notoriously stressful and praised those businesses that had closed on Sundays. You can listen to the episode below.
Whitton told Car Dealer: ‘Stress and anxiety levels have always been a challenge in our sector and the long hours have no doubt contributed to that. It begs the question, how did we end up with such long hours being the norm?.
‘Gaining and retaining great staff is one of the biggest issues for the industry right now, so to observe what other sectors are doing in this regard is fascinating. Potential employees will be hearing about this too and making informed decisions about where they want to work.
‘Wouldn’t it be great if our sector become one of those pioneering this employee centric approach?’
The four-day week trial saw academics from the University of Cambridge and the US’s Boston College assess the results.
They revealed a significant drop in the rates of stress and illness among the approximately 2,900 staff taking part.
Joe Ryle, director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, hailed the trial a ‘major breakthrough moment’.
He said: ‘Across a wide variety of different sectors of the economy, these incredible results show that the four-day week with no loss of pay really works. Surely the time has now come to begin rolling it out across the country.’
Some 39 per cent of staff taking part felt less stressed as a result, while the number of sick days dropped by two thirds. There was also a 57 per cent fall in the number of employees leaving the firms taking part during the trial period.
Revenue also increased marginally by 1.4 per cent on average at the participating businesses.
However, some managers reported concerns with increased workloads and said they were struggling with lengthy to-do lists.
Most firms chose to give their staff Fridays off, some opted for Mondays, while others let staff decide their own day to not work.
The campaigners and academics will present the results in the House of Commons today (Feb 21) where committee chair Labour MP Peter Dowd will hear the results.
Dowd brought forward the 32-Hour Working Week Bill in October, which would reduce the maximum working week from 48 hours to 32 hours for all British workers.
Dr David Frayne, a research associate at the University of Cambridge, said: ‘We feel really encouraged by the results, which showed the many ways companies were turning the four-day week from a dream into a realistic policy.
‘The benefits of a shorter working week for no reduction in pay are now both well-known and well-evidenced.’
Gary Conroy, chief executive of 5 Squirrels, a Brighton-based skincare company, introduced ‘deep work’ time to help with productivity. Employees had to dedicate two-hour periods to work without emails or messages to distract them.
The firm also cut meetings back and limited them to 30 minutes and at certain time periods.
He said: ‘We’re trying to run a profitable, productive company and we believe that one of the ways of doing that is by having higher employee engagement and happier members of staff who are not burnt out the whole time.’
What do you think? Could the motor trade introduce a four-day working week for staff? How would it work practically? Let us know by emailing us your comments.
Additional reporting: PA Media
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