One hundred British businesses have signed up for a permanent four-day working week for all their employees – with no loss of pay.
This means that roughly 2,600 employees are set to benefit from the new working pattern.
Advocates of the four-day week have said that the five-day pattern is a ‘hangover’ from an earlier economic age.
They also argue that a four-day-week would drive more companies to improve their productivity, meaning they can create the same output, just in fewer hours.
A trial of the four-day working week in France previously found workers were putting in the same amount of hours even with a day fewer and companies were having to pay them for their extra time.
The two biggest companies that have signed up are Atom Bank and global marketing company Awin, who each have about 450 staff in the UK.
A hundred British businesses have signed up for a permanent four-day working week for all their employees – with no loss of pay
They have been accredited by the four-day week campaign, meaning they have demonstrated that they have genuinely reduced hours for workers rather than forcing them into longer days.
Adam Ross, Awin’s chief executive, said adopting the four-day week was ‘one of the most transformative initiatives we’ve seen in the history of the company.
‘Over the course of the last year and a half, we have not only seen a tremendous increase in employee wellness and wellbeing but concurrently, our customer service and relations, as well as talent relations and retention also have benefited.’
The UK campaign is also coordinating the world’s biggest pilot scheme with more than 3,300 employees across 70 companies and charities taking part in the radical six-month experiment.
The trial includes researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, Boston college and thinktank Autonomy.
The firms and not-for-profits are being charged up to £10,000 to take part, MailOnline has learned.
Roughly 2,600 employees are set to benefit from the new working pattern
In September, 88 per cent of those companies in a survey at the middle of the trial said the four-day week was working ‘well’ for their business at that stage of the trial.
About 95 per cent of the companies surveyed said productivity had either stayed the same or improved since the introduction.
However, only around half of those taking part (41) responded to a survey canvassing opinion at the halfway point, with nearly nine in ten of the respondents saying that they would keep the scheme in place beyond the trial period.
15% surveyed claimed that productivity had surged dramatically – while the remainder recorded either no change or only a ‘slight improvement’ in output.
Companies previously said they had struggled with rota chaos and staff confusion after rolling out the four-day week, with bosses admitting that they doubted the policy could survive the trial period.
Samantha Losey, boss of communications firm Unity, told The Telegraph last month: ‘It’s more likely that we won’t carry on now. One of the things that has struck me is whether or not we are a mature enough business to be able to handle the four-day week.
‘The rest of the world not doing four-day weeks makes it challenging. We agreed we’d go all the way through the pilot, but I’m questioning whether this is the right thing for us long-term. It’s been bumpy for sure.’
However, toward the end of the trial it seems that despite the ‘rough times’ she acknowledged during the changeover process, her attitude towards the concept was a much more positive one:
‘Ultimately, the outcomes we’re experiencing, such as better, higher, and a positive team culture shift are reassuring that the bumps in the road are exponentially worth it.’
The UK campaign is also coordinating the world’s biggest pilot scheme with more than 3,300 employees across 70 companies and charities taking part in the radical six-month experiment
A range of businesses and charities are taking part, including the Royal Society of Biology, hipster London brewery Pressure Drop, Southampton computer game developer Yo Telecom, a Manchester medical devices firm, and a fish and chip shop in Norfolk.
Of those who did respond to the survey, nearly half (46%) said productivity had not increased, while about a third (34%) reported only a ‘slight’ improvement and just 15% a ‘significant’ one’.
And on a scale of one to five indicating how smooth the shift had been, with a grade of one representing ‘extremely smooth’, more than a fifth (22%) did not rate the move to a shorter week one or two.
Most of the companies that have officially adopted the four-day week are in the services sector such as technology, events or marketing companies. However, the campaign said that some manufacturing and construction employers had also signed up.