4 Day Work Week to become the New Norm

Over half of the UK workforce would like more flexibility when it comes to work (though we here at KUHR estimate that figure to be much higher, ADP reports that 6 in 10 employees feel this way).

Flexibility can come in many different forms and one of them most common suggestions we get even with our clients is the implementation of a 4-day work week.

Productivity is damaged by poor mental health

The need for flexibility is normally at its most dire when mental health is at its lowest. A little over half of men in the workplace and roughly 45% of women are willing to confess that their work is being damaged by poor mental health which has led to retention rates dropping and the rise of movement between industries.

Flexibility is just as important as salaries

Almost half of the UK workforce would accept a pay cut if it meant a greater work life balance which rises to almost 65% if we reduce the sample size to London. Although pay cuts don’t always have to be the way to give flexibility. The majority preference for (60% of) workers would be to get flexibility as to when they work but to keep the number of hours they work. For example:
As opposed to 40 hours over the course of 5 days at 8 hours a day, an employee can choose to work 10 hours a day for 4 days a week.

This wasn’t the first time we reduced the work week

At the start of the 20th century, a 6-day work week was the norm, until the 1926 Ford Motor Company implemented the Monday to Friday work week pattern that we are now familiar with. We’ve since developed from the industrial age and we’re now in the 21st century where we’re revisiting the work week pattern. Perhaps there may come a day where we work only 3 days of the week.

What needs to be implemented to make the 4-day work week to happen?

Co-ordination and communication are going to be the single biggest obstacle to implement the 4-day work week. Having a designated place to revisit and readjust rotas and hours is going to be your best friend when it comes to flexibility. Using HR tools to boost the co-ordination between managers and employees will smooth the transition to the 4-day work week.

Our HR-Handy recommendation is to use Breathe HR. It’s cloud-based software that allows you to store a repository of data, allocate hours and rotas, monitor attendance, implement training and more. When it comes to flexibility, we whole-heartedly assure you that Breathe HR will be your most used computer software program. For a Free of charge demo of Breathe, book a time slot below.