After the Covid-19 Pandemic, work-from- home, remote working or flexible working became a thing.
It is difficult for companies to make employees return to work.
A new solution that may be a win-win situation for all is a four-day work week, since not all companies are able to offer Work-from- home or remote working.
There is a four-day week.
The work culture has seen a number of changes in the past two years, but the biggest change will be getting fully paid for doing 80 percent of their work hours at the same time maintaining 100 percent productivity.
Under the four-day week, employees would not have to wait for Fridays to make plans with family or go on trips as Thursdays would be the new Fridays.
More than 70 companies and 3,300 employees signed up for the trial of a four-day work week in the UK on Monday.
The programme is supported by researchers from Cambridge and Oxford universities and Boston College and is being organised by a not-for-profit organisation.
It is intended to measure productivity and well-being of staff over six months as they work less on the understanding of delivering the same results.
In exchange for a commitment to maintain at least 100 per cent productivity, more than 3,300 workers, based throughout the UK and representing more than 30 sectors, are receiving 100 per cent of the pay for 80 per cent of the time, according to the 4 Day Week Campaign.
Over 150 companies and 7,000 employees from across the United States, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand have signed up to participate in the trials of the four-day working week.
Is the UK the only country with a four day week?
The four-day work week is not a new concept, but the timing for the UK to experiment with it has caught everyone’s attention.
Spain and Scotland are planning to start four-day week trials later this year.
A study was done on 2500 employees who worked 35 to 36 hours a week without pay cuts.
The UK event’s organizers claimed that a trial in Iceland was a huge success. The Philippines may also try this.
The trade unions want work hours reduced. Almost all of the employees in the country have either shifted to reduced hours or other accommodations.
The same hours are proposed for a UK 4 day work week in the Netherlands and Norway.
The United Arab Emirates is the first country in the world to have adopted a four-and-a-half day per week workweek.
Japan is considering implementing a four-day workweek.
Is the experiment working so far?
The benefits of a 4-day work are already being realized by some companies. A trial study was done on a 4-day work week.
Improvements in job satisfaction, teamwork, work/life balance, and company loyalty were shown by the employees who maintained the same productivity level.
A trial study into a shorter work week was conducted in Sweden. The nurses at the care home only worked six hours a day. Results were positive with nurses logging less sick hours, reporting better health and mental wellbeing, and arranging 85% more activities for patients in their care.
The carbon footprint of countries with shorter working hours is smaller, employees don’t need to commute as much, and large office buildings are only used four days a week.
Reducing the average work week from five to four days has been shown to have a significant ecological impact. In the first ten months, the project saved over US$ 1.8m in energy costs and over 6000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
There are challenges for a four-day work week.
Implementing a four-day work week can be difficult as it requires the right support, technology and workplace culture.
Employees will still have to work for 35-38 hours, meaning they will have to work longer for each of the four days to get an additional day off, which may affect productivity and work-life balance.
Will the four-day week work in India?
Several people are hopeful in India as well as the government has come up with new labour codes that it plans to implement from July 1 which may pave the way for a four- day work week.
The Centre is working on designing four new labour codes in which there will be significant changes in employee’s salary, pension contributions and working hours
The take- home salary of the employees, working hours, and the number of weekdays will be changed under these new codes.
Employees will have to work at least 48 hours per week. The employees will face a reduction in take- home salary if implemented.
It is possible in some industries such as IT, but it is almost impossible in others.
The four-day work week model will be a challenge for the companies in India, as it became a challenge for companies to shift to work from home and remote.
