If you’re reading this on your Thursday commute, thinking you could do with another long weekend and a four-day week, there’s no way you’ll have missed reports about trials of a shorter working week.
Last month, the Belgian government gave employees the right to condense their work into four days instead of the usual five, for the same pay.
And this June, more than 3,000 employees at 60 British companies will begin a six-month trial of this four-day working week — in the hope that they can get the same amount done in 80 per cent of the time, maintaining their salary while getting a full day back as their own.
The pilot is being run by Oxbridge academics in partnership with the 4 Day Week UK Campaign, who say that it will boost wellbeing and productivity, as well as reduce commute-related pollution by 127 million tonnes per year.
This article was written by Libby Galvin on behalf of The Watercooler for the Evening Standard.
