https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/nov/27/a-hundred-uk-companies-sign-up-for-four-day-week-with-no-loss-of-pay [p] Skip to main contentSkip to navigation Advertisement Print subscriptions Sign in Search jobs Search US edition[ ] * US edition * UK edition * Australia edition * International edition The Guardian - Back to homeThe Guardian [ ] * News * Opinion * Sport * Culture * Lifestyle ShowMoreShow More * [ ]News + View all News + US news + World news + Environment + Soccer + US politics + Business + Tech + Science + Newsletters + Fight to vote * [ ]Opinion + View all Opinion + The Guardian view + Columnists + Letters + Opinion videos + Cartoons * [ ]Sport + View all Sport + Soccer + NFL + Tennis + MLB + MLS + NBA + NHL + F1 * [ ]Culture + View all Culture + Film + Books + Music + Art & design + TV & radio + Stage + Classical + Games * [ ]Lifestyle + View all Lifestyle + Fashion + Food + Recipes + Love & sex + Home & garden + Health & fitness + Family + Travel + Money * Search input [ ] google-search Search + Support us + Print subscriptions * [ ]US edition + UK edition + Australia edition + International edition + Europe edition * + Search jobs + Digital Archive + Guardian Puzzles app + Guardian content licensing site + The Guardian app + Video + Podcasts + Pictures + Inside the Guardian + Guardian Weekly + Crosswords + Corrections * + Facebook + Twitter * + Search jobs + Digital Archive + Guardian Puzzles app + Guardian content licensing site * Money * Property * Pensions * Savings * Borrowing * Careers Work-life balance A hundred UK companies sign up for four-day week with no loss of pay Thousands of employees to be moved permanently to four days in policy described as 'transformative' Commuters on Metrolink trams in Manchester. [ ] Commuters in Manchester. To be accredited by the four-day week campaign, companies must demonstrate that they have genuinely reduced hours for workers. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Commuters in Manchester. To be accredited by the four-day week campaign, companies must demonstrate that they have genuinely reduced hours for workers. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Jasper Jolly @jjpjolly Sun 27 Nov 2022 09.13 ESTLast modified on Sun 27 Nov 2022 14.56 EST * * * A hundred UK companies have signed up for a permanent four-day working week for all their employees with no loss of pay, a milestone in the campaign to fundamentally change Britain's approach to work. The 100 companies employ 2,600 staff - a tiny fraction of the UK's working population - but the 4 Day Week Campaign group is hoping they will be the vanguard of a major shift. Proponents of the four-day week say that the five-day pattern is a hangover from an earlier economic age. They argue that a four-day week would drive companies to improve their productivity, meaning they can create the same output using fewer hours. For some early adopters the policy has also proven a useful way of attracting and retaining employees. 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. 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. Four-day week could alleviate cost of living crisis, thinktank claims Read more 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 for about 70 companies, which employ about 3,300 workers, to adopt the four-day week in a trial with researchers at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, Boston college and thinktank Autonomy. In September, 88% 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% of the companies surveyed said productivity had either stayed the same or improved since the introduction. Joe Ryle, the UK campaign's director, said there was increasing momentum in the adoption of the four-day week, even as companies brace for a long recession. "We want to see a four-day week with no loss of pay become the normal way of working in this country by the end of the decade so we are aiming to sign up many more companies over the next few years," he said. Sign up to Business Today Free daily newsletter Get set for the working day - we'll point you to the all the business news and analysis you need every morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. "With many businesses struggling to afford 10% inflation pay rises, we're starting to see increasing evidence that a four-day week with no loss of pay is being offered as an alternative solution." 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. Some historians have said the debate over the introduction of the four-day week has many similarities with the 19th-century campaign for a two-day weekend. Topics * Work-life balance * Work & careers * Employment law * Productivity * Working from home * Workers' rights * news * * * * * * Reuse this content More on this story More on this story * [7476] 'I had a very welcome lie-in on Friday': the joys and challenges of switching to a four-day week 18 Aug 2022 * [6720] Four-day week could alleviate cost of living crisis, thinktank claims 19 Sept 2022 * [5110] A four-day week is already changing British lives: my new bill could make it open to all 17 Oct 2022 * [3500] Cambridgeshire council poised to be first in UK to trial four-day week 2 Sept 2022 * [4558] Australian workers at global company to trial four-day week after success of New Zealand pilot 1 Nov 2022 * [5760] Sleeping in the office is making a comeback? 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