Majority of UK firms in 4-day week trial say it is success

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) – A majority of British firms taking part in a trial of a four-day working week said they will consider making the scheme permanent, after reporting that their productivity had stayed the same or improved in a mid-trial survey published on Wednesday.

Over 70 UK firms are taking part in the six-month trial, which sees workers get paid 100% of their income for 80% of their normal hours.

Forty-one of these companies took part in the mid-trial survey, which found that 95% of respondents said their productivity had stayed the same or improved, 88% said the trial was working well, and 86% said they are likely to consider making the new working arrangements permanent.

The trial, which is in its fourth month, is being run by 4 Day Week, a not-for-profit group; Autonomy, a think tank; and researchers at Oxford and Cambridge universities and Boston College.

Joe O'Connor, chief executive of 4 Week Global, said: "We are learning that for many it is a fairly smooth transition and for some there are some understandable hurdles - especially among those which have comparatively fixed or inflexible practices, systems, or cultures which date back well into the last century."