The UK To Start 4-Day Work Week Trial
Employees will receive 100% of their pay for 80% of the time, in exchange for 100% productivity.
The U.K. will officially start its four-day work week trial on June 13.
According to CNN, employees involved in this pilot — more than 3,300 workers at 70 U.K. companies — will still receive full pay regardless of working only 80% of their usual week. However, in exchange, they must sustain 100% of their productivity as they would for a five-day work week. “The program is being run by not-for-profit 4 Day Week Global, Autonomy, a think tank, and the 4 Day Week UK Campaign in partnership with researchers from Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College,” as per CNN.
“The pandemic [has] made us think a great deal about work and how people organize their lives,” Sienna O’Rourke, brand manager at Pressure Drop Brewing, said. “We’re doing this to improve the lives of our staff and be part of a progressive change in the world.” “As we emerge from the pandemic, more and more companies are recognizing that the new frontier for the competition is quality of life, and that reduced-hour, output-focused working is the vehicle to give them a competitive edge,” Joe O’Connor, CEO of 4 Day Week Global, shared in a statement.
Meanwhile, some other companies involved “provide education, workplace consultancy, housing, skincare, building and construction recruitment services, food and beverages, and digital marketing,” The Guardian reported. Researchers will work closely with each company to observe how effective the program is.
