The 4 day work week – is it inevitable and how should employers prepare?

The new Labour party’s manifesto for the 2024 general election included a commitment to make “flexible working the default from day one for all workers, except where it is not reasonably feasible”.  However, it is not yet clear what practical changes will be introduced.  UK workers already have the right to request flexible working, with the right having been expanded earlier in 2024 to make it a “day one” right.  Employers must deal with such an application “in a reasonable manner” and can only refuse it for one of a number of stipulated business reasons, which must be based on the facts of the situation.  That being said, the employer still appears to have quite a wide remit to refuse the request. By way of example, an employer can refuse the application based on the costs or disruption involved but, provided there truly would be some cost involved, there is no minimum level of cost or disruption that the employer is required to absorb.

The Legal Position

In April 2024, all workers in the UK gained a statutory right to request the ability to work flexibly from “day one”, for any reason.  This expanded a right which was originally granted in the Employment Act 2002, aimed at workers who wished to fit childcare responsibilities into their work schedules.  This includes the flexibility to work a four-day week, compressing a worker’s hours into fewer days.

The Conservative government had promised in their 2019 manifesto to “encourage flexible working and consult on making it the default unless employers have good reasons not to”, which became the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023.  However, beyond giving workers the right to make this request from the beginning of their engagement, the 2024 reforms did not change the grounds on which an employer could refuse a request, nor do they make it harder for an employer to refuse a request.

The Labour Party’s manifesto promised to make “flexible working the default from day one for all workers, except where it is not reasonably feasible”.  This suggests that they intend to implement a requirement that employers act reasonably in dealing with these requests and demonstrate why they cannot reasonably accommodate the flexible working.  This is however not yet clear – the government have not published any draft legislation and ministers have denied that businesses will be forced to accept flexible working demands.

We will update this article if and when any Bills are published on the topic.

Trials of a four-day working week

A recent trial at South Cambridgeshire district council, the largest UK public sector trial of a four-day working week, found that planning decisions were made faster, time taken to process benefit changes applications fell, and staff turnover reduced by 39% (an improvement which saved £371,500 in a single year).

Similarly, 61 UK employers took part in what is still the world’s largest trial of a four-day working week from June to December 2022. Staff working for these employees saw a 20% reduction in working hours but no reduction in wages.

Results from the trial (which was organised by researchers at Cambridge University, think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week UK Campaign, and researchers at Oxford University and Boston College) were presented to MPs recently. The findings included the following:

• stress and illness in the workforce was significantly reduced
• the number of sick days decreased by 65%
• worker retention levels improved
• 62% of employees reported it easier to combine work with social life
• company revenue barely changed during the trial period (it increased marginally by 1.4% on average for the 23 organisations able to provide data)

54% of the employers that participated in the trial have decided to make the change permanent.

Other 4-day working week research conducted in Japan in 2019 also confirmed that a shorter work week could be good for the planet, as it leads to us making less intensive consumer choices and travelling less. On top of this, World Health Organisation and International Labour Organisation data paints a stark picture of longer working weeks; showing that working long hours causes mental health crises, chronic disease crises and kills around 745,000 people every year!

Time for change?

Many think that we are seeing the start of the biggest change to working hours since the early 1900s. It was in the early 1900s that the idea of having both Saturdays and Sundays as rest days first came about. This was however not an overnight change triggered by government legislation. Instead, the change came about gradually, as a result of years of campaigns pushed by trade unions, some religious institutions, some employers and commercial leisure companies that saw two rest days as a fantastic business opportunity.

In the same way that unions played a key part in pushing for the 2-day weekend, it is likely that unions will want to be at the forefront of pushing decision makers and employers towards a 4-day, 32-hour week. In the last couple of years, unions have been less focussed on pushing for working time reductions given the need for a laser sharp focus on pushing for increased rates of pay at a time of extreme levels of inflation. With levels of inflation predicted to slow however, it is likely the 4-day working week will start to climb towards the top of union agendas.

Preparation; the key to success for employers

It is important that as employers you do not ignore this growing demand, as it will hit you in one way or another; either because unions make this an organised campaign, or if the anticipated legislation is wider-reaching than it appears, or simply because it becomes an issue of talent retention and attraction as your competitors move to a 4-day week. It is interesting to note that 15% of employees involved in the UK’s recent private sector 4-day week trial said that no amount of money would induce them to accept a five-day schedule over the four-day week to which they are now accustomed. In a tight labour market one organisation’s 4-day week recruitment solution soon becomes another organisation’s turnover problem.

It is therefore prudent, particularly where you already have a unionised or partly unionised workforce, to do some scenario planning now to consider whether you can embrace a 4-day week and what would be reasonable for the business to accommodate.

If you come to the conclusion that you really do not believe you could accommodate a 4-day working week, you should at least be clear on what your argumentation and strategy is for resisting it, as it is likely to be tested at some point in the future.

Remember, it may not be a question of simply diving in at the deep end straight away. There are a number of sensible compromises that organisations can offer or at least explore as a starting point, such as 9-day fortnights, condensed work weeks, shorter summer hours for longer winter hours, no meeting Fridays or half-day Fridays.

It is certainly better as employers to be exploring this topic now, before there are any significant forces (either legislative or otherwise) pushing you to offer the 4-day work week. If you would like legal or HR support in doing so, please do not hesitate to contact either our employment law team at Clarkslegal or our HR team at Forbury People.