John McDonnell, Clive Lewis and Ian Lavery are among those to sign the Early Day Motion

A group of MPs have issued a call for the UK government to trial moving staff at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) onto a four day working week.

The MPs have all signed an Early Day Motion in parliament which argues that “a four-day week with no loss of pay could lead to increased productivity, while also bringing benefits to workers, employers, and wider society”.

The motion highlights the four day week trial in South Cambridgeshire District Council and claims that this “showed huge benefits, including cost savings, better staff retention, lower sickness rates and improvements in service delivery”.

The Early Day Motion comes off the back of a campaign from the PCS union to secure a trial four day week in DEFRA. Earlier this year, PCS said that DEFRA management had “agreed to work collaboratively to explore the idea of a four-day week”. However, the department is yet to to commit to implementing a pilot.

At the time of writing, 11 MPs have signed the Early Day Motion. The following MPs have added their names:

• John McDonnell – Independent
• Clive Lewis – Labour
• Ian Lavery – Labour
• Andy McDonald – Labour
• Liz Saville Roberts – Plaid Cymru
• Kim Johnson – Labour
• Ann Davies – Plaid Cymru
• Ben Lake – Plaid Cymru
• Llinos Medi – Plaid Cymru
• Neil Duncan-Jordan – Labour
• Jon Trickett – Labour

In 2023, the largest four day week trial in the UK concluded, with 56 out of the 61 organisations involved deciding to continue to operate on a four day week. The trial saw a significant decrease in the rates of stress and illness among workers who took part.

Chris Jarvis is head of strategy of development at Left Foot Forward

Image credit: Francesc Fort – Creative Commons

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