In the UK, workers could be entitled to request a four-day working week, under new government plans, but they would have to continue to work the hours specified in their contracts, concentrated on those days.
British Education Secretary Jacqui Smith on Friday denied reports that companies had been forced to accept the demand for short weeks, but said workers could be given the option to work fewer days if they worked “compressed hours”.
Smith told LBC radio that his government believes “flexible working is really good for productivity”. “The four-day week, as I know it, is in a lot of headlines these days; but what we’re really talking about is the kind of flexible working that allows compressed hours. The minister explained that “maybe instead of working eight hours a day for five days, you could work ten hours a day for four days”. In that way, you would work the same hours, but “in a way that allows you, for example, to have less childcare, to spend more time with your family, to do other things”.
Asked about jobs like teaching, where she couldn’t work four days a week with compressed hours, Smith said, “A lot of other people can’t do it either, but that doesn’t mean that people who can do it shouldn’t be given that opportunity.”
A spokesman for the Department of Trade and Business also denied that the Labour Party, currently in government, would impose a four-day week on businesses. “We have no intention of imposing a four-day working week on employers or employees. Any changes to employment legislation will be consulted on, in consultation with businesses,” the spokesman said.
“Our project Making work pay (make work count) is designed to increase productivity and create the right conditions for businesses to support sustained economic growth. Many employers already provide good conditions that are supportive of their workers’ families,” he said. However, the government is working “closely with businesses and civil society to find a balance between improving workers’ rights and supporting the brilliant companies that pay people’s wages.”
The Ministry of Trade and Commerce said it would present more details on the idea within 100 days.
Meanwhile, Joe Ryle, director of the 4 Day Week campaign, welcomed the proposals as a step towards reducing working hours overall in the UK. “This is a welcome move by the government, recognising that the future of work we are moving towards is a four-day week for everyone. However, these proposals would only allow workers to compress their hours rather than reduce them, which we believe is essential to improving work-life balance and also maintaining productivity,” Ryle said.
“Reducing the same number of hours over four days instead of five may be an important first step on the way to a true four-day week, but reducing the total number of working hours is crucial,” he added.
Two days after Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a general election for July 4, 2024, the Labour Party published a document called the Plan Making work payThe plan did not propose a four-day week, but it did commit to ensuring contracts that reflect the number of hours an employee regularly works, a “real living wage” and an end to the practice of workers being fired and hired back with new terms or rehired on a temporary basis.
