4 Day Week

In order to evaluate the effect of weekly working days on employees around the world, trials have been carried out for the working days system in which they work 4 days a week. The most comprehensive of these studies was carried out in Iceland between 2015 and 2019. In the current process, with the effect of the pandemic, the studies on this subject have accelerated. Currently, 30 companies in the UK apply a working days system with 4 days a week and a total working time of 32 hours. The effect of the change on productivity on the enterprises and the effect of the change on the health, quality of life, in short, welfare in terms of the employees will be evaluated with the trial that will be implemented for 6 months in these enterprises. The Scottish and Spanish governments have also started piloting the four-day-per-week work in their countries from January, 2022.

With this system; basically, it is expected to increase work efficiency, reduce occupational health problems, create a stronger family structure, eliminate gender inequality and create a more sustainable working environment.

Not-for-profit communities have been established in various countries on this subject. The most notable of these is the “4 Day Week Global” community, which was founded by Andrew Barnes and Charlotte Lockhart to support the idea of ​​working for 4 days a week and to provide a platform for like-minded people. The “4 Day Week Global” community plans to run similar trials this year in Ireland, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

In the white paper published by the community, various suggestions are made to businesses:

• Give employees plenty of time to develop their productive work style and encourage them to come up with their own productivity metrics.
• Encourage staff to consider how they can organise time off within teams while still meeting customer and business imperatives.
• Communicate with external consultants/academics to evaluate qualitative and quantitative success criteria by switching to a 4-day weekly working system with the pilot application.
• Consider establishing an attendance policy for employees/departments on an annual basis. An opt-in form can track employee productivity metrics and listing information.
• Set business goals and success criteria for employees and teams.
• Ensure flexible implementation of the working hours policy, taking into account seasonal workflow differences.
• Be clear that the purpose of the initiative is to improve the situation, not only in the company’s interest, but also in employee and social interests.

For more information on the topic and community, you can visit the “4 Day Week Global” web page ( https://www.4dayweek.com ).