British companies adopt a permanent work week after the largest experiment in the world, by Euronews

The majority of British companies that took part in the world's largest study to trial a four-day working week have made it permanent, and 100% of directors and executives say it has had an impact “Positive effect In the organization.

Some 61 organizations participated in the six-month pilot project in 2022. The results of the test were announced on Thursday: a year later, 89% of companies continued to implement the work week For four days and more than half of them made it permanent.

The study also found that work intensity remains lower and job satisfaction is higher than before the pilot began: Almost all employees (96%) said His personal life benefited86% said they felt they performed better at work.

The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked debates and trials across Europe over a four-day working week, as employees and employers rethink The importance of flexibility and benefits in the workplace. This means that employees will work four days a week instead of five, They will charge the same And They are entitled to the same benefits, but with… Same workload.

The British study found that companies reduced the working day by 6.6 hours, which means 31.6 hours per week. He found that too Complete rest days, rather than being on call, were more effective.

“My physical and mental health and work-life balance are much better than they were in six months. Improvements in fatigue Life satisfaction has remained stable, said Juliette Shore, a sociology professor at Boston College, one of the report's authors.

Unions from all over Europe They ask governments to implement the four-day work week. But governments have so far been reluctant to officially adopt a four-day work week. In February 2022, Belgian employees won the right to complete a full workweek in four days, instead of the usual five, without losing pay.

The new law took effect a year early and allows employees to decide whether they will work four or five days a week. But this does not mean that they will work less: They will simply condense their work day into fewer days.

The country's seven-party federal coalition has set a target of an employment rate of 80% by 2030, a target that would help keep statutory pensions affordable or fund future tax cuts.

Meanwhile, this month in ScotlandGovernment Launched a workweek experiment Four days for some public services.