Wirral Council said it is “open” to the idea of a four day working week for employees in future.
The comments were made by a senior council officer during a committee meeting discussing how the local authority manages its workforce after a question by Cllr Harry Gorman about an ongoing national trial.
Dozens of companies entered a six-month trial to only ask employees to work four days a week but still be paid the same salary as before. In February, 56 extended the trial with 18 making the changes permanent.
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Many of the companies who took part in the trial said it boosted staff wellbeing, and productivity either remained the same or improved.
In January 2023, South Cambridgeshire District Council began a three-month trial for desk-based staff becoming the first local authority to do so. However officers said Wirral Council wasn't close to a similar move but would continue to look at the trial as it develops.
In response to Cllr Gorman's question about whether “it would be appropriate for the council given it’s meant to increase productivity," Tony Williams, assistant director for HR, said: “I think we’re a way off."
He added: “I think it will be interesting to see how that goes, there’s probably other sectors that lend themselves to it possibly before we do but in the next few years we’ll probably see a lot more of it.”
“Again if it’s about being able to retain staff and recruit staff then it’s something we’ve got to be open to and the question has been asked already as to where we are on that but we’ll certainly be watching this space very carefully.”
Earlier in the meeting, councillors had raised concerns about the authority’s workforce which was described as ageing and the need to recruit people through apprenticeships and graduate schemes was highlighted.
The meeting was also told Wirral Council had a mean gender pay gap of nearly 4.5% between April 2021 and March 2022.
It was also revealed that despite 63% of the council’s workforce being female, only 47% of top employees are though officers confirmed positive progress had been made in the current financial year.
Mr Williams said: “This isn’t about men being paid more than women for the same job, it’s largely about the jobs people do” and the council compared favourably to other authorities.
However he said there was still progress to be made in improving job promotions for women in the council as well as removing barriers like child care or caring.
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