A new four-day working week trial is being launched by campaigners.
Companies participating in the trial are set to begin the scheme in November, and findings will be presented to the government in the summer of 2025.The Director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, Joe Ryle, has stated that he believes that a Labour government will be more receptive to the four-day week than the Conservatives were.
Recent weeks have seen news of a four-day working week trial at South Cambridgeshire District Council launched in January 2023 leading to greater retention, job satisfaction and productivity in the workplace, despite challenge and threatened litigation from the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Local Government).The trial showed a decrease in staff turnover by 39%, leading to a reduction in recruitment demands which resulted in £371,500 in savings over a year.There was a 53% increase in the average number of applications for roles advertised externally. The trial also increased performance in 11 out of 24 areas, with additional improvements in motivation and physical and mental health.
Meanwhile, August sees the introduction of the initiative "4ugust", which encourages employers to do a mini-trial of the four-day week. This has been introduced by the 4 Day Week Campaign and the think tank Autonomy, and follows their report earlier this year of the four-day week trial in 2022.This found that the majority of employers had continued with the policy, and that 58% of the public expects the four-day week to be the standard way of working by 2030.
