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Government Council leaders in England have been warned against introducing a four-day week for staff, despite studies showing They can be beneficial for workers,
steve reedThe Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has written to local authorities saying they could be considered failing if worker Get full week’s pay for four days Work,
in a letter to councilsMr Reid said local authorities should not offer “full-time pay for part-time work”. Wire Informed.
Mr Reid reportedly wrote: “The provision set out in the current guidance in relation to the four-day week will remain in place and I take this issue very seriously, particularly that ‘council staff working part-time for full-time pay without any good reason’ will be considered an indicator of potential failure, amongst a wide range of factors.
“I hope this makes my position and the Government’s policy on this matter clearly clear to all councils. We will present further details in new best value guidance in due course.”
Liberal Democrat led South Cambridgeshire District Council became the first local authority in England to introduce the four-day week on a permanent basis, taking the decision in July following a trial starting in 2023.
Mr Reid expressed his disapproval of that decision, writing at the time that the district council’s housing service had declined.
Independent The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been contacted for comment.
Responding to Mr Reid, South Cambridgeshire District Council told Independent That the four-day week system has saved public money and improved performance.
Cllr Bridget Smith, leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “We are surprised at this latest letter – particularly given that we have yet to receive a response from our recent meeting with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, when we explained how transformative our four-day week has been.
“Since implementing the four-day week – a working arrangement in which employees do 100 per cent of their work in 32 hours each week – we have made annual savings of almost £400,000, maintained and improved performance, reduced staff turnover by 41% and increased the number of applications for roles by 123 per cent.”
Cllr Smith also said the four-day week had helped the council overcome issues in its planning department and said “the results speak for themselves”.
He added: “Independently evaluated data for the trial showed that, with the exception of three areas related to housing, our performance has either improved or remained the same. Independent analysis shows that these were due to factors completely independent of the four-day working week. For example, the cost of living crisis. In fact, we are the top performing council nationally in these areas and our performance is getting better.”
Studies have shown that the four-day week can be beneficial for employees and organizations alike.
A large trial involving 61 companies and about 3,000 workers took place in Britain from June to December 2022, with employees working four days a week.
Companies were not required to cut a particular type of work time or use a four-day week, as long as wages were maintained at 100 percent and there was a meaningful reduction in employees’ work time.
According to the Autonomy Institute, which worked on the study, 56 of 61 companies continued the four-day week after the trial, while 18 made it permanent.
It found that 71 percent of workers reported reduced levels of burnout, noting an increased ability to balance their work and personal life.
The study found that company revenues remained roughly the same during the test period, and increased by an average of 1.4 percent depending on company size across different organizations. The number of employees leaving the firm also decreased by 57 percent during the trial period.
same way, A trial in the public sector in Scotland was successful “Overwhelmingly positive” results were found earlier this year.
Workers at two Scottish public sector bodies – Accountants in Bankruptcy (AIB) and South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) – switched to 32-hour weeks with no loss of pay or benefits during a year-long trial.
A total of 259 employees are employed between the two organisations, almost all of whom participate in the trials. In both cases, employees reported less work-related stress and greater satisfaction with their jobs and work-life balance.
Almost all SOSE employees (98 per cent) said four days a week of testing had improved morale and motivation in the workplace, while those who felt ‘very satisfied’ with their work-life balance increased from four per cent to 84 per cent after just nine months.