Four-day work week could become mainstream in Australia in five years
A radical overhaul of the way Australians work could be hitting our shores much sooner than expected.
Aussies could soon be saying goodbye to the traditional five-day work grind, with momentum gaining for a radical change to the workplace.
Just over a third of Australian companies expect their organisation will transition to a four-day work week within the next five years, new research has revealed.
In a surprising result, more than seven-in-10 Australian employers would support a four-day work week for their staff due to concerns about attracting and keeping staff, with the move seen as a way to compete for top talent.
Another 37 per cent of companies said they might transition to the shorter working week within the next five years, the research from recruiter Robert Half revealed.
Yet, just over a quarter of employers do not believe a four-day work week is likely.
Large employers are more apprehensive, with only 27 per cent believing the four-day work week will occur within the next five years while 30 per cent are not planning to implement the change.
Influences that could push employers to make the move include employee requests or positive staff feedback, business results, whether changes to operations will allow it and if their competitors are doing it, the research showed.
About a quarter of employers believe a skills-short market will also play a role in their decision.
Companies have embraced remote working as a result of the pandemic, but there are also opportunities to offer the flexibility their teams request while also supporting culture, collaboration, and efficiency, said Robert Half director Nicole Gorton.
“Flexibility has never been so important to the modern day workforce. Granting individuals the freedom to establish their own schedules exemplifies a sense of trust and can be seen as companies taking the next step to transform the way we work to foster sustained work-life harmony,” she explained.
“With candidates placing flexibility in their top priorities, offering a four-day work week helps attraction and retention efforts, while also contributing to staff morale and productivity.”
Ms Gorton said four-day work week trials across the globe had found success but implementing the change was not a one-size-fits-all scenario.
“Potential pitfalls include longer days, which may lead to burnout or employee dissatisfaction as well projects and products taking longer to complete,” she said.
Alternatives could be offering other flexible benefits like remote working options or early finishes to attend to personal commitments, Ms Gorton added.
Australia moving towards a shorter working week
Many nations including Australia are looking at the benefits of a four-day working week.
Australian employees could soon be paid their full-time wage to work just four days a week should sweeping proposals from a senate inquiry be adopted.
The landmark report by the select committee on work and care backed a raft of changes, including a year of paid parental leave and the right to disconnect from work outside of hours.
Greens Senator Barbara Pocock, who chaired the inquiry, called on the government to seriously consider the “ambitious” reforms to boost the quality of life.
“In our history, Australia led the world in reductions in the working week in the 1850s. We’re at the other end of the spectrum with too many Australians working very long hours,” she told ABC News Breakfast earlier this year.
“We need to think more seriously about how we deal with a changed workforce.”
The report recommended the Albanese government trial the 100:80:100 model. Workers would continue to be paid a full-time wage and maintain productivity despite working 80 per cent of the week.
“We heard a lot of evidence … of people who are already working a four-day week in workplaces that are trialling a reduction in working hours and getting very positive results,” Senator Pocock said.
“We’re seeing in the evidence improvements in productivity, a lot greater work and family balance, and really good outcomes in the workplace and at home in terms of relationships and putting your life and your job together.”
The pilot would be spread across the workforce and conducted in partnership with an Australian university.
In a landmark agreement inked in March, full time employees at Oxfam Australia will see their working time reduced to just 30 hours a week, while permanent part-time staff would have their hours calculated on a pro rata basis.
The Australian Services Union (ASU) has secured an agreement with Oxfam Australia to introduce the four-day working week at full-time pay – the first such arrangement in the country to be formalised within an Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.
A review into the idea of the 38-hour work week and whether stronger penalties were required for employers who made staff work long hours should be considered by the Fair Work Commission, the inquiry also said.
Another key recommendation from the report was restricting employers from contacting employees outside of work hours unless it’s an emergency.
“What people are saying is, can we work our working hours and once we’re beyond those, unless it’s absolutely urgent, we should be able to turn the phone off and not be at its beck and call,” Senator Pocock added.
While the report had the broad support of Labor and Coalition Senators, additional comments provided by government members noted the reforms might not be possible in the current economic environment.
“This fiscal reality necessarily imposes constraints on social policy,” Labor Senators Deborah O‘Neill, Jana Stewart and Linda White said.
“It is now the role of government to consider the report and its recommendations within the context of broader budgetary and legislative constraints.”
Research shows dramatic impact of four-day week
This all comes as recent research has found that staff on a four-day work week are more productive, with companies which took part in the experiment seeing their revenue dramatically increase.
The first large-scale study of its kind, released in December, is the latest in the push to reduce the mandatory five-day working week.
Australia was one of the countries involved in the study, which also included New Zealand, the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland.
Over 10 months, nearly 1000 employees at 33 different companies took part in the trial.
Their hours were cut down by an average of six hours and they worked one less day a week, while still receiving their regular full-time salary.
The report found that revenue rose 8 per cent during the trial, but it was up a whopping 38 per cent from the same period a year earlier.
Employee absenteeism also dropped and 67 per cent of employees said they were less burnt out.
Staff also reported less fatigue, with levels going down from 66 per cent before the trial to 57 per cent after the trial.
Insomnia and sleep problems for employees also went down by 8 per cent.
It was such a success, that two-thirds of the firms decided to retain the four-day work week, including the Australian offices of Unilever.
Companies rated the overall experience a nine out of 10, with resignations dropping slightly and the ability to attract new workers also increasing.
The research was co-ordinated by not-for-profit advocacy group 4 Day Week Global in partnership with researchers at Cambridge University, Boston College and Oxford University.
“This is important because the two-day weekend is not working for people,” lead researcher Juliet Schor told Bloomberg.
“In many countries, we have a work week that was enshrined in 1938, and it doesn’t mesh with contemporary life. For the wellbeing of people who have jobs, it’s critical that we address the structure of the work week.”
Other than the US, Australia was the largest participant in the study.
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