Both employers and staff have said they benefited from reducing the working week to four days in recent surveys, but freelance journalist Tayla Blaire discovered it doesn’t work for everyone
A major study has found that both employers and employees reported advantages from moving to a four-day working week – though the arrangement isn’t suitable for all. The traditional five-day working week is a relatively modern development in the UK, gradually taking shape after the First World War, yet it has become the norm for recent generations. The Covid-19 pandemic prompted a re-evaluation of work-life balance and sparked fresh interest in shorter working weeks, alongside a dramatic increase in remote working.
Graham Allcott, who works for an organisation that pioneered a full four-day week in the UK back in 2010, explained to the i Paper that a four-day week doesn’t automatically mean fewer total hours. After several trials, his company adopted a straightforward nine-to-five schedule from Monday to Thursday.
He described the initiative as a resounding success, delivering “a healthier, more sustainable work-life balance.” But by contrast, freelance journalist Tayla Blaire recounted her experience after switching to a four-day week: “I didn’t saunter into that sumptuous three-day weekend so much as collapse into it.”
Being self-employed, Tayla discovered she was simply cramming more hours into fewer days. After three months, Tayla abandoned the experiment, finding that not only was she working extended hours across her four days, but she regularly ended up working on the fifth day too.
She explained: “While I had Fridays off, my clients didn’t. Sometimes there was the odd emergency and sometimes Friday really was the only time a source for an article could be interviewed. Plus, if my editors wanted tweaks to an article on a Friday, I couldn’t ignore that.”
Being self-employed, Tayla discovered she was simply cramming more hours into fewer days. After three months, Tayla abandoned the experiment, finding that not only was she working extended hours across her four days, but she regularly ended up working on the fifth day too.
She explained: “While I had Fridays off, my clients didn’t. Sometimes there was the odd emergency and sometimes Friday really was the only time a source for an article could be interviewed. Plus, if my editors wanted tweaks to an article on a Friday, I couldn’t ignore that.” Tayla revealed that her extended weekends brought unexpected challenges, making it more difficult to return to work mode on Mondays: “I struggled to get back to work after three days off. I’d slump into my office feeling petulant rather than recharged.”
Nevertheless, a four-day working week offers numerous practical benefits, and an increasing number of British workers may find themselves adopting this alternative schedule in years to come. Particularly for higher earners, this arrangement could help sidestep a “cliff-edge drop” within the existing tax system that penalises those earning between £100,000 and £125,000, resulting in them paying more tax than some who earn considerably more.
Whilst this may appear to be a rather privileged concern, comparable anomalies in the current tax structure could impact workers on far more modest incomes. Projections suggest that by the conclusion of this Parliament, one in four teachers earning marginally above the national average could face a 40% tax rate, as their salaries reach thresholds frozen by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Over 200 UK companies have already made the switch and converted to a four-day week. A six-month trial involving 17 companies and nearly 1,000 workers, ended with all companies opting to continue working a shorter working week.
Almost two-thirds of workers in the trial reported a reduction in how often they experienced burnout, while two in five found an improvement in their mental health. Almost half also said they felt more satisfied with life. The report also states that companies were able to maintain service levels and key performance indicators whilst observing these benefits for employee wellbeing.
Joe Ryle, campaign director of the 4 Day Week Foundation, said: “With greater knowledge, expertise and experience of what it takes to successfully implement a four-day week, we’re really pleased to see such a high success rate. People are happier, businesses are thriving, and there’s no turning back. We’ve proved it again and again: a four-day week works and should now be implemented more widely across the economy.”
The companies range from marketing agencies, IT firms and consultancies to those in the charity sector.
