A Bristol organisation that switched to a four-day week a year ago says working a shorter week has boosted productivity within the business and improved the physical and mental health of its staff.
St Pauls-based City to Sea moved its 19 staff to a 32-hour week with no reduction in pay in September 2021. The organisation, which campaigns to reduce plastic pollution, confirmed the move after running a six-month trial and receiving positive feedback from employees.
Since adopting the policy, City to Sea said it had seen an increase in wellbeing and productivity among its workers, and a better work-life balance for staff.
Steve Hynd, City to Sea's policy manager, said working for a four-day a week employer had helped improve his physical and mental health.
"I can spend more time with my young children," he said. "It allows space to breathe and to take stock in an otherwise incredibly busy life. Crucially when I am at work it helps me work more productively. It's not a silver bullet but it is part of a package of positive HR policies that most organisations could and should adopt."
In June, more than 70 companies signed up for the UK's biggest ever four-day week pilot. The scheme is being run by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with leading think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week Campaign and researchers at Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College.
Since implementing the change to working hours within the business, City to Sea has been officially accredited as a 'Gold Standard' four-day week employer under the 4 Day Week Campaign's accreditation scheme.
Hetti Dysch, City to Sea’s HR manager, added: "The ‘blaze and burn culture’ of faster, bigger, and better creates workforce burnout and fatigue. Ultimately this culture has led to climate catastrophe as profit is placed above the protection of our precious planet. At City to Sea, we’ve switched to the four-day week as we care about the long-term wellbeing of our team who campaign to protect our oceans from plastic pollution."
Last year, Atom Bank became the largest UK four-day week employer with all 430 staff moving to a four-day, 34 hour working week, with no reduction in pay.
A thinktank has suggested the cost of living crisis could be alleviated by a four-day week. Research organisation Autonomy said parents could save thousands of pounds a year in childcare and commuting costs by working for an organisation that offered a four-day working week.
Will Stronge, director of research at Autonomy, told the Guardian: “The benefits of a four-day week for the wellbeing of workers and boosting productivity are well known, but the impact it could have on the cost of living has so far been overlooked. A four-day week with no loss of pay could play a crucial role in supporting workers to make ends meet over the next few years.”
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