Flexible working campaigners say the current proposals around flexible working contained in the Employment Right's Bill do not go far enough
Around a dozen Labour Party MPs are pushing for a four-day working week to be included in the Government’s Employment Right’s Bill and have tabled an amendment that would commit the Government to exploring a wider transition across the economy from a five-day working week to a four-day working week, with no impact on pay.
The campaign is being supported by the 4 Day Week Foundation, who are pushing for what they say is a ‘genuinely shorter working week which we know workers desperately want’.
The amendment calls for a new Working Time Council to be established within six months of the legislation passing that would provide advice and make recommendations on how a transition could be made and include representatives of businesses, trade unions, government departments and employment experts.
Flexible working campaigners say the current proposals around flexible working contained in the Employment Right’s Bill do not go far enough and only allow workers to request compressed hours rather than reduced working hours which the 4 Day Week Foundation argues is crucial for improving work-life balance and also maintaining productivity.
It comes after last month it was reported that two hundred UK companies had signed up for a permanent four-day working week for all their employees with no loss of pay, a move that affects more than 5,000 people, with charities, marketing and technology firms among the best-represented, according to the latest update from the 4 Day Week Foundation.
Peter Dowd, Labour MP for Bootle, who is lead proposer of the amendment, said:“The benefits of greater productivity in the economy as a result of new technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) must be passed back to workers in more free leisure time.
“A four-day, 32 hour working week is the future of work and I urge my party to back this amendment so we can begin a much wider transition.”
Maya Ellis, Labour MP for Ribble Valley, said: “Businesses and public sector organisations are increasingly adopting four-day weeks.
“Data shows that working four days leads to greater productivity than five. That means in public organisations for example, that we can get through a higher volume of tasks, creating the increase in capacity we so desperately need to see in our public services.
“I hope our government can be brave enough to take the first steps now, in what I believe will one day be considered the norm.”
Joe Ryle, Campaign Director of the 4 Day Week Foundation, said: “Compressing the same amount of hours into four-days rather than five is not the same thing as a true four-day working week.
“What is missing from the Bill is a commitment to explore a genuinely shorter working week which we know workers desperately want.
“As hundreds of British companies and one local council have already shown, a four-day week with no loss of pay can be a win-win for both workers and employers.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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