Fourteen MPs have backed the shift to a four-day working week in the UK by tabling an amendment to the Employment Rights Bill.
Under the new clause, a Working Time Council would be set up to provide advice and recommendations on moving to a four-day working week “with no impact on pay”.
The council would advise on how this shift would affect employers and employees and how businesses, public bodies and other organisations should approach such a transition.
The council would be established by the government within six months of the bill being passed and its members would include representatives from trade unions, businesses, government departments, and employment experts.
Currently, bill proposals only enable workers to request compressed hours rather than reduced working hours. But the 4 Day Week Foundation said the right to request a four day week is crucial for improving work-life balance and maintaining productivity.
Peter Dowd, Labour MP for Bootle, who led the amendment proposal, said: “The benefits of greater productivity in the economy as a result of new technology such as artificial intelligence must be passed back to workers in more free leisure time.
“A four-day, 32 hour working week is the future of work and I urge my party to back this amendment so we can begin a much wider transition.”
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, said: “We’ve seen from numerous trials across the UK that a reduced working week with no loss of pay can have positive benefits for the workplace and for the wellbeing of workers, but it can also have wider benefits for the economy, environment and gender equality.”
MP for Ribble Valley Maya Ellis said: “Businesses and public sector organisations are increasingly adopting four-day weeks.
“Data shows that working four days leads to greater productivity than five. That means in public organisations for example, that we can get through a higher volume of tasks, creating the increase in capacity we so desperately need to see in our public services.
“I hope our government can be brave enough to take the first steps now, in what I believe will one day be considered the norm.”
Compressing the same amount of hours into four-days rather than five is not the same as a true four-day working week, according to Joe Ryle, campaign director of the 4 Day Week Foundation.
“What is missing from the bill is a commitment to explore a genuinely shorter working week, which we know workers desperately want,” he said.
“As hundreds of British companies and one local council have already shown, a four-day week with no loss of pay can be a win-win for both workers and employers.”
Employee choice would appear to be key to making this type of flexible working work for everyone.
Last month, Nebel Crowhurst, chief people officer and chief appreciation officer at Reward Gateway, said that the four-day work week seems broadly appealing, however, she warned against potentially imposing it as a blanket structure.
“Employees’ individual needs are unique to them; while one person might benefit from a four-day work week, others might prefer shorter hours spread over more days, a personal day off each month, or time out each day for the school run or gym.”
She said it was vital businesses assess all options because there are smart approaches that can offer more personalised flexibility and support better productivity.
In January, more than 200 UK companies, employing more than 5,000 workers, permanently adopted a reduced hours four-day week with no loss of pay for employees. Among these workers, the vast majority reduced their hours to 32 hours a week or less.
Research from Barclays Bank found that British workers have missed out on a Europe-wide trend towards fewer working hours. British people now work 27 percent more hours on average than Germany.
Last October, when the bill was introduced to parliament, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said a four-day week is “no threat to the economy.”
The 14 MPs backing the Bill amendment are Peter Dowd, Paula Barker, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Ellie Chowns, Neil Duncan-Jordan, Patrick Hurley, Rachael Maskell, Mary Kelly Foy, Kim Johnson, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Maya Ellis, Imran Hussain, and Connor Naismith.
