The United Kingdom will begin their four day work week trials in June this year. A six-month pilot programme announced on Monday, January 17th, is planning to recruit companies to study the impact of shorter working hours on businesses’ productivity, employees’ well-being, and the implications for gender equality and the environment. The firms will follow the 100:80:100 model, where employees will receive 100 per cent of the pay for 80 per cent of the time in return for maintaining 100 per cent of their previous productivity.
The programme is being carried out by researchers at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and Boston College. As well as the non-profit advocacy groups, the 4 Day Week UK Campaign, 4 Day Week Global and the UK think tank Autonomy aims to recruit 30 UK companies by the time it begins in June this year.
“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,” said Joe O’Connor, Manager of the Pilot Scheme for 4 Day Week Global.
