Four-day working week pilot in UK explained - how pay and hours work

18 Jan 2022

Scottish Daily Record

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Fourday working week pilot in UK explained how pay and hours work

Thousands of workers over the six-month pilot will be tested to see if working four days is just as productive.

A four-day work week is set to be trialled in more than 30 companies in the UK.

Workers will be living the dream during a six-month trial that will reduce their working hours, but not pay.

Starting in June, the trial will "herald in a bold new way of working in 2022" as it measures whether employees can be just as productive working over four days than five.

Research has previously shown that 78 per cent of staff are reportedly happier and less stressed by this work schedule.

The New Zealand-based non-profit 4 Day Week Global is leading the pilot in partnership with think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week UK Campaign, along with researchers at Oxford University, Boston College and Cambridge University.

Smiling young redhead holding a cup of coffee while working on her laptop in her home office with a cat sitting in a window — The pilot will include 2,500 workers over 6 months (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

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The experiment was expanded to include 2,500 public and private sector workers and union workers with police, healthcare workers, teachers, shop assistants and council workers among those taking part in the trial.

The UK trial is due in part to the success of the pilot in New Zealand and Spain.

Among the participants is the Canon Medical Research Europe in Edinburgh and its 140 employees.

Joe O'Connor, pilot programme manager for 4 Day Week Global, said: "More and more businesses are moving to productivity focused strategies to enable them to reduce worker hours without reducing pay.

"We are excited by the growing momentum and interest in our pilot program and in the four-day week more broadly.

"The four-day week challenges the current model of work and helps companies move away from simply measuring how long people are “at work”, to a sharper focus on the output being produced. 2022 will be the year that heralds in this bold new future of work."

Are people on a four-day working week paid the same?

The point of the four-day working week is that people are paid the same.

The scheme asks workers to work for a smaller amount of time, for the same pay, in the hope that productivity actually increases.

Productivity benefits the business that employs them and employees get to spend more valuable time away from work.

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Will a four day working week happen in Scotland?

The Scottish Government has said a four day week without pay reduction will be tested in at least one trial in the country, but has released few details since.

A four day week was part of the SNP's election manifesto and last September members of the SNP backed a motion to support the trial.

However, employment legislation is decided by the UK Government.

A few Scottish companies have trialled the four day week on their own, including Edinburgh construction firm Orocco and UPAC, a Glasgow-based packing company.