UK Four-Day Work Week: Employees in the United Kingdom are set to go though a big change in terms of their work schedule. The country is set to implement the trial for a four-day work week for its employees who will live the dream of spending less time at office without a pay cut. Dozens of companies have already signed up for the UK’s pilot of a four-day work week that is supposed to begin in June. This means that the trial period will go on till December, after which a decision will be taken on proceeding further with the matter.
The trial will see the participation of as many as 30 British companies companies who have agreed to sign up and allow its staff to work 32 hours per week, according to a report by Bloomberg. The companies, while doing this, will not change their compensation and benefits.
The signed up firms may also ask their workers to spread the 32 hours over a period of five days, the report said.
“Moving to a four-day week would be a win-win for companies,” Joe Ryle, director of the Four Day Week Campaign in the UK, told Bloomberg on Tuesday in a telephonic interview. “Studies have shown that productivity improves along with corresponding gains in workers’ well-being,” he added.
Similar trials will also be organised in the past by the firm in the US and Ireland. More are planned for countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand, said Ryle to Bloomberg.
“Our researchers will work with you to establish relevant productivity metrics for your business, and to define what success looks like for you. These metrics will be monitored throughout the trial, with an impact assessment specific to your company produced after the trial,” the website of the Four Day Work Week Campaign states in a note.
The campaign, which was earlier conducted in Iceland, proved to be a huge success with workers feeling more productive and less stressed.
What’s Happening in India?
India too has similar plans in this front. The Centre is working on a change in labour codes that will enable employees to work for four days in a week, but the work hours are likely to be more than that of the other countries. Under the new rules, employees across India are likely to get three days’ leave each week and work for four days, among others.
“The four labour codes are likely to be implemented in the next financial year of 2022-23 as a large number of states have finalised draft rules on these. The Centre has completed the process of finalising the draft rules on these codes in February 2021. But since labour is a concurrent subject, the Centre wants the states to implement these as well in one go,” said a senior government official, as per PTI.
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Source: News18