PCS welcomes new approach to four-day week

Reports have emerged that the government is considering the idea of introducing a right for workers to request four-day working week.

However positive this movement on working hours appears, PCS - which is campaigning for a shortened four-day week with no loss of pay - is cautious as some reports are suggesting that workers could be given the option to work fewer days through “compressed hours,” in the words of the education minister Jacqui Smith.

For several months, PCS members in EFRA group have been running an impactful four-day week campaign. After constructive engagements with management, they reached an agreement to explore the idea with their employer. They have also written a report about how a four-day week would benefit staff.

Responding to these media reports, PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote welcomes the government "taking seriously the idea of a four-day week, which has proved popular with employers and workers where it has been trialled in the public and private sectors”.

However, she warns, they “should not confuse the option of working compressed hours with a shortened working week, which has been shown to improve productivity and especially benefit those with caring responsibilities, who are more often than not women workers,” adding that “shortened working hours could be a key tool in eradicating the gender pay gap”.

Delegates at our annual delegates conference in May agreed to affiliate to the 4 Day Week Campaign, which helps run workplace four-day week trials. These trials have shown that a four-day working week with no loss of pay leads to a happier, healthier and more productive workforce – things that benefit the employer, the employee and the taxpayer.

PCS is hosting a Labour Party Conference fringe meeting in Liverpool on 23 September on ‘The Case for a Four-Day Week’. Fran will be joining the 4-Day Week Campaign for a panel discussion on the growing movement for a four-day week.

PCS reps can also register for a 4-Day Week pilot training course, which was created in conjunction with the 4-Day Week Campaign, to equip them with tools for campaigning on, and winning, a four-day week in their workplace. The one-day course takes place on Wednesday 18 September from 10a.m-4pm. Registration closes on 11 September.