Less time but no pay cut: Wales looking to introduce four day work week
The Welsh government is mulling to embrace a four day work week for most employees across the British nation.
According to Sophie Howe, who is Wales’ future generations commissioner, a shorter work week at full pay would lead to a healthier work-life balance and give productivity a boost, as well as creating 38,000 new jobs while at the same time reducing Wales’ carbon footprint.
Howe writes in a new report that the time is right to embrace an alternative way of working after Covid’s impact on employment and mental health.
“The hours that we work haven’t really changed in the last 100 years and it’s time for a debate on whether that should change now,” Howe told news channel Euronews.
“We have some huge challenges in the future, how are we going to care for an ageing population, how are we going to stem the problems we’re seeing with mental health, and I think this is going to be part of the discussion on a potential solution,” she reportedly said.
The report, authored by the Autonomy think tank, further urged the Welsh government to roll out a trial of a four-day week with no reduction in pay.
Public sector workers account for over more than one in four of all employees across Wales. They report higher rates of absence from work than average, the report pointed out, with stress, overwork, and poor mental health cites as the main reasons.
UK trial
In a sign that the idea of a shorter working week is gaining moment, a six-month trial period of a four-day working week was launched last month across the UK, with 30 British companies expected to take part in the initial pilot.
Recent research from Glass Door found that 52 per cent of employees reported that work regularly ate into their personal life, while 35 per cent per cent said they did not believe a healthy work-life balance was possible in their current role.
Therefore, many eyes are currently on a four-day working week six-month pilot programme that launched on Monday in the UK.
Participating companies and organisations will trial a four-day week with no loss in pay for employees based on the principle of the 100:80:100 model – 100 per cent of the pay for 80 per cent of the time, in exchange for a commitment to maintain at least 100 per cent productivity.
Although more than 30 companies take part in the trial, many employers are not too keen on the idea, stressed Jamie Mackenzie, Director at Sodexo Engage.
“The idea of a four-day working week is not new, but by no means is any less polarising. Putting it to the test in the UK is an overdue move which could bring forward another burst in the evolution of work,” MacKenzie told City PM
“It’s rare for an employee to use the 40 plus hours a week they currently work in a continuously effective and productive manner.”
Jamie Mackenzie
“The world has changed a lot since then, and even if one doesn’t have children to fill up their hours, our understanding of wellbeing, especially mental health, and productivity has grown in leaps and bounds since the days of physically clocking in and out,” MacKenzie said.
“A pivot to four days a week could spell the end of meetings for meetings sake and help push more effective methods to get the job done.”