Were never going back say companies that have switched to four day week

Companies that have switched to a four-day working week have said they have “no regrets”, noting no change in performance while the policy has made it easier to hire people.

Kirsten Dean, head of finance at Scottish housing association Melville, told the PA news agency that staff were in “disbelief” when the company trialled the policy in 2023.

“They thought it was too good to be true that it had no strings attached,” she said, but added that after more than a year of the working pattern “I don’t ever see us going back”.

On Monday, the 4 Day Week Foundation said more than 200 UK companies have made the permanent switch to the shorter working pattern with no loss of pay.

Those firms range from marketing agencies, IT firms and consultancies to those in the charity sector, and collectively employ more than 5,000 people.

The Foundation argues that having fewer working days makes people more motivated, while also giving them “the freedom to live happier, more fulfilling lives”.

Melville manages more than 2,000 homes for rent across central Scotland, meaning high tenant satisfaction and letting properties quickly were closely-watched signs that the staff involved were still doing their jobs properly after the switch.

Ms Dean admitted it is “not all plain sailing” and that some tenants initially questioned the plan, but there has been no effect on customer satisfaction in surveys.

She said the policy has also made it easier to hire top staff, and that an officer from another association had recently agreed to take a pay cut to join Melville.

The four-day week is “definitely a draw” for applicants, she said.

Having an extra day free a week is “a day where I don’t have to put my son into nursery. I get to spend a full day with him,” Ms Dean added.

“From a mental health point of view, it certainly has been been a benefit to myself and the staff.”

The growing popularity of the shorter work week comes as some large companies are rolling back pandemic-era flexible working policies, with tech giant Amazon recently demanding staff go into the office every day.

Critics of the four-day week, meanwhile, have branded it lazy, and lobbying group the TaxPayers’ Alliance launched a campaign called “Stop the clock off” to oppose public sector workers adopting the scheme.

Another company that has offered staff a four-day working pattern is Brook, a charity that runs sexual health clinics across England for local authorities.

Sam Hepworth, the charity’s head of communications, said: “I wouldn’t describe anyone here as being lazy.”

Many of the charity’s clinical staff do “very challenging work” with patients suffering difficult conditions, he said. “That can take its toll, both emotionally and physically, for staff.

“In order for them to be able to maintain that level of commitment, they need that bit of extra time to prevent them burning out.”

However, he admitted that shift patterns have had to change to keep clinics open for the same number of days as before, and that office staff have been forced to be “smarter with our time” to get their work done in fewer hours.

“We’ve cut down on the number of meetings that we have, and made them shorter,” he said.

Mr Hepworth said 86% of people who took part in an initial pilot of the scheme in 2023 rated their experience as “very positive”, while 87% said it either maintained or improved their motivation.

And nine in 10 participants said the company should continue with the scheme, he added.

Since starting the policy, Brook has been “inundated” with inquiries from similar groups asking whether it works.

After the initial trial in 2023, the charity’s bosses opted to offer the shorter hours on a permanent basis, Mr Hepworth said.

“We decided it was a no-brainer to carry on,” he said.

Published: 28/01/2025 by Radio NewsHub