It is clear from the headlines that a four-day working week would certainly have its benefits, promoting a healthy work-life balance, and boosting your business’s reputation and attractiveness as an employer to name a few. However, there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration before a business can just decide to reduce its working hours.

The first question most people have asked, is what happens on the fifth day?

If your business is still intending to operate five days a week, considering that many of your clients or customers may have come to expect this level of service, a fair and transparent rota system will need to be established. This could mean that employees work different shifts a week, choosing to have different ‘off’ days, or they may have the same day off every week but may need to be contactable during this time.

One of the main concerns that arose after the pandemic was people’s inability to switch off, due to home working or more flexible hours. This could become more of an issue for some if they are expected to be contactable during this ‘off’ day. In countries such as France and Spain for example, there is a legal right to disconnect from work, meaning that an employer is legally unable to contact their employees during certain hours about work-related matters. Currently, there is no such law within the UK, and many have raised concerns about the effect this can have on employees’ mental wellbeing. There is clearly a fine balance between ensuring business continuity and avoiding unnecessary burdens on staff members.

This would be something that each business would have to address in line with their particular circumstances.

What if I already work four days?

One of the key principles of the four-day week pilot is that whilst there is a drop-in day at work, there is no drop in pay. So, what happens if you had already dropped to four days, and your wages had been reduced to reflect this?

Managing the productivity of the ‘full time’ workers working four days and being paid for five, compared to the ‘part time’ workers being paid their pro-rata wage may not just cause complications it could result in claims of discrimination. Some businesses have suggested that they would increase wages to match those on ‘full-time’ contracts, but this is likely to create financial challenges for some.

What if I don’t work five days a week?

Many businesses are a combination of Monday to Friday type roles or seven-day shift patterns. If the standard Monday – Friday roles are reduced by one day, it is likely this could create tension and unrest amongst other workers where this may not be possible.

There may be ways that businesses can reduce their shift patterns in the same way or create other benefits to entice and keep their staff. If this was not possible, many businesses could see a higher turnover of staff or issues with recruiting staff to fill these roles.

Working Time Regulations

Doing five days’ worth of work within four days can have its benefits, however, this could mean higher stress levels for those four days and potentially longer hours to get all the work done. As long as all workers are taking adequate breaks throughout their working day there should not be any issues with the working time directive or any claims to the Employment Tribunal in connection with that.

However, getting the same amount of work done in a short period of time could burden workers physically and mentally and this is something all businesses must consider before making the switch.

What if it doesn’t work?

This is currently a pilot that is being tested throughout the UK and there is no guarantee any company that has signed up will remain this way forever. Contractually speaking this could cause problems as this type of change could amount to a permanent change unless there is specific wording to confirm otherwise.

If the trial was not a success, an employer might need to embark on a consultation process to seek the agreement of the workers to revert back to a five-day week, which could be challenging. This could be particularly problematic for businesses with a large number of employees.

These are all issues that must be considered before a business can decide whether to make the swap to a four-day week however it is becoming much more common. Recruitment is increasingly difficult, and many businesses wish to become the employer of choice and see this as the perfect way to attract the best candidates. It would certainly assist most employer’s reputations for employability but there is a fine balance that must be struck to ensure that clients or customers are not being negatively impacted as a result.

If you or your business are considering a shake-up of their normal working patterns and need advice on the contractual and legal limitations, or obligations surrounding these, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at [email protected] or call 0333 888 1360.

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