IN JANUARY this year, the Women’s Budget Group (WBG) launched a six-month trial reducing its full-time working hours to 30 per week without loss of pay. This shorter working week has now become a permanent change, reflecting the WBG’s commitment to align its operations with its vision of a green and caring economy.
The WBG says the UK is grappling with multiple, intersecting crises, with inequalities and environmental breakdown at their core. Women continue to work longer hours than men, but men are paid for more of their work, and are paid more for their work. Meanwhile, overwork and overproduction are key driving factors of climate change – an issue gaining increasing recognition globally.
A WBG briefing that formed part of the Feminist Green New Deal project reported that shorter hours of work are associated with lower gender gaps in unpaid hours of work, paid hours of work and wages as well as lower GHG emissions per capita and higher productivity.
In February 2023, the think tank Autonomy published the results of a trial of a shorter working week across 61 organisations that found significant positive impacts on employee wellbeing, work life balance and productivity. The WBG has worked with the 4 Day Week Campaign and Autonomy and are now an accredited employer.
While most staff have opted to work their hours over four days, there is a strong commitment to flexibility. Some employees choose to spread their hours over five days or adjust their schedules according to term times and school holidays, and caring responsibilities.
WBG is on track to meet or exceed its performance targets for this year, matching or even surpassing last year’s outcomes across several key metrics. The transition to a shorter working week has not only maintained, but in many cases enhanced, productivity and impact.
Equally important has been a substantial improvement in staff satisfaction, well-being and morale. Employees report feeling more productive and focused with the added time for rest, personal pursuits, travel, and family commitments contributing to a more balanced and fulfilling work-life balance. This, in turn, has fostered a more positive and collaborative workplace culture.
WBG says the positive outcomes from the trial suggest that reducing working hours can be a catalyst for not just sustaining but improving organisational performance, while at the same time improving staff wellbeing.
The WBG encourages the new Government to seriously consider these positive findings, saying public support for such a move is clear: recent polling by the Autonomy Institute revealed that 72 per cent of those who voted Labour in the General Election favour a national transition to a shorter working week.
* Read: The Feminist Green New Deal briefing, A shorter working week as part of a green caring economy here.
* Source: Women’s Budget Group