Compressed hours but a bigger weekend – are you a proponent of the four-day week? ( Image: Getty Images) A four-day trial working week will officially start in the UK on 1 June, giving all employees the opportunity for an extended weekend without loss of pay. Sixty companies with 3,000 employees have registered to take part in a pilot program organized by the 4 Day Week Global campaign team – and it will last six months. The program is based on the idea that staff will receive 100% of their salary for 80% of the time and we hope to maintain 100% of productivity. It comes amid growing interest in the potential benefits of giving employees an extra day off. Companies that have registered for the test range from major marketing companies to charities and breweries. During the pilot project, companies will collaborate with researchers to document the impact on productivity. They will also monitor employee well-being and the impact on the environment and gender equality. Should four days become law? Let us know in the comments below Atom Bank became one of the most recent adapters of the four-day week last year when it moved to a permanent, non-deductible weekend. Instead of reducing working hours, he made the four working days longer. Some companies have reduced working hours to give employees a permanent 32-hour week without losing wages. Internationally, in August 2019, Microsoft Japan implemented a four-day week giving 2,300 employees five consecutive Friday breaks. The company said productivity increased by 40%, meetings were more productive and employees – who were also happier – took less time. In Iceland, a four-day working week test was conducted between 2015 and 2019 and was described by researchers as an “overwhelming success”. The participating workplaces, including hospitals and schools, shifted from 40 hours per week to 36 or 35 hours, with some reporting improved productivity among employees. The test eventually included more than 2,500 workers, equivalent to about 1 percent of Iceland’s workforce. poll upload
Do you agree with a four-day working week?
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Which companies offer a four-day week as part of the test?
Sixty UK-based companies will take part in the test, but only 28 have agreed to be named publicly. These employers include: Hutch – game developers Yo Telecom – telecommunications services Adzooma – internet marketing company Pressure Drop Brewing – brewery Happy – workplace consulting services Platten’s Fish and Chips – Norfolk Chip Store Eurowagens – car parts retailer Bookishly – online book and gift shop Results First group – training and sponsorship services NeatClean – company of ecological cleaning products 5 Squirrels – Skin care brand consultant Salamandra – cartoon studio Girling Jones – recruitment company AKA Case Management – case management company IE Brand & Digital – marketing company Helping Hands – home care services Trio Media – marketing agency Literal Humans – marketing agency Physiquipe – technical rehabilitation company Tyler Grange – Landscape Design Consultant Timberlake Consultants – software engineering company Royal Society of Biology – professional body Everledge – technology company Scotland’s International Development Alliance – an industry charity in Scotland Amplitude – technology company Stemette Futures – educational organization Comcen – computer consumables retailer We Are Purposeful – activism organization read more Seven things to check before midnight otherwise you risk losing thousands of pounds read more Calls for a curfew on Sunday and to reduce the speed limit on the highway to 64 mph to deal with the oil crisis
