Rise Of The 4 Day Week In The UK: How Does It Look In 2024?

In June 2022, 70 UK businesses began a six month trial of the 4 day working week. 61 businesses completed the trial. The pilot, organised by 4 Day Week Global, was also trialled in other countries, such as Spain, New Zealand, and the US.The results that were released in 2023 showed that the trial had largely been a success. The majority of participating employers intended to continue with the 4 day week and most of their employees were also in favour of this new working pattern. It appeared to be a win-win situation.

What Is The 4 Day Week?

While the idea of working four days a week instead of five might seem straightforward, it’s worth clarifying what this working pattern looks like in practice.

The 4 day week trial used a 100:80:100 approach. That means:

• employees receive their full pay (100% pay)
• employees work four days instead of five (80% working days)
• employees maintain the same level of productivity (100% productivity)

This doesn’t necessarily mean that businesses close down for that fifth day. Instead, businesses might adopt a staggered working week, with employees taking different days off to ensure staff coverage. Another option is to annualise working hours, meaning that employees work an average four day week calculated across the year.

What Were The Results Of The 4 Day Week Trial In The UK?

Of the 61 UK businesses that took part in the 4 day week trial, 92% said they intended to continue with the 4 day week. 30% felt the trial had proved the worth of a 4 day week and would make it a permanent work pattern. Only 5% of the 61 businesses said they would halt the 4 day week.

For the vast majority of businesses taking part, company revenue remained the same or marginally increased during the trial, employees felt less likely to leave or retire, there was a decrease in the hiring of new staff, and staff absences dropped by up to 65%.

The employee response was largely positive. 90% said they would like to continue working a 4 day week, 71% experienced lower levels of burnout, and 55% felt they were able to carry out their jobs better.

The 4 Day Week In 2024

Over a year since the trial results were published, how prevalent is the 4 day week in the UK and what changes have been made to employment law?

Adoption Of The 4 Day Week

There have been small but encouraging moves in the adoption of the 4 day week in the UK in 2024. Of the 61 companies that participated in the pilot, 54 are still working on a 4 day week basis and 31 have made it permanent.

Research by Startups in collaboration with YouGov found that 78% of the 530 employees they questioned want to work a 4 day week, with 61% citing a better work life balance as the reason. Startups also questioned 546 small businesses at the end of 2023. Of these, 12% said they intended to adopt the 4 day week in 2024 and 66% were keen to embrace flexible working in general.

The initial 4 day week trial may be over but plenty of businesses waited for the results of the pilot before testing this working pattern for themselves. For instance, the South of Scotland Enterprise began their 4 day week trial in October 2023. Results have yet to be published.

The 4 day week has growing support, but the exact number of UK businesses offering this work pattern in 2024 isn’t yet clear.

Legislation

The UK Government hasn’t introduced any new laws specific to the 4 day week. However, flexible working legislation was updated in April 2024, including:

• the right to request flexible working from day one of employment, instead of after 26 consecutive weeks working for the employer
• the right to make two requests for flexible working in any 12 month period, instead of just one request
• the requirement for employers to explain their reasons for rejecting a flexible working request
• the requirement for employers to respond to a flexible working request within two months, instead of within three months

UK Government Response To The 4 Day Week

The response of the UK Government to the 4 day week has been to place the decision and responsibility squarely on the shoulders of employers. However, it has stated that it doesn’t support the adoption of the 4 day week by local authorities in England.

Wrapping it up

While the 4 day week is gaining support in the UK, both from workers and employers, uptake of this working pattern appears to be slow outside the companies that participated in the initial trial. However, changes to flexible working legislation have made it easier for employees to request flexible working, including a 4 day week.