Are YOU eligible for a four-day working week?
Some employees will be allowed to demand a four-day week in a new law which will be proposed by the Labour government this autumn as part of a package of additional rights for workers.
Under a system of ‘compressed hours’, workers could be allowed to work their contracted hours in four days rather than five.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is championing the law which is being developed in close consultation with businesses and trade unions.
However, the new rules will not apply to everyone and some questions around how it will work in practice remain unanswered.
Under the current rules, workers have a legal right to request flexible hours but bosses are not obligated to oblige.
Currently workers have a legal right to request flexible working from their employers but companies are under no obligation to agree (stock photo)
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is championing the law which is being developed in close consultation with businesses and trade unions
Labour’s new package of workers’ rights would shift the balance of power with businesses forced to offer flexible working unless it is ‘not reasonably feasible’.
The increased flexibility will mean workers will have a greater legal weight behind them if they ask to complete their week’s work in four days, rather than five.
This could see employees only in the office from Monday to Thursday and taking Fridays off.
‘Flexible working’ covers three things in Labour’s worker’s rights package: hybrid working, ‘right to switch off’ and ‘compressed hours’.
Hybrid working allows people to work from home as well as at their place of employment, such as an office. Hybrid working has become popular and preferred by many since it was introduced due to Covid-19 lockdowns.
The ‘right to switch off’ is the idea that employees should not have to check and respond to work emails after their shifts have finished.
‘Compressed hours’ allow workers to work their contracted weekly hours in an irregular way across the week.
For example, if someone is paid to work five eight-hour shifts a week, they could ask to work four 10-hour shifts, and have the fifth day off.
Supporters of the change have noted that this would be slightly different to the common understanding of working a four-day week in that the employee will still be working 100 per cent of their contracted hours. Whilst the idea of a four-day week pushed by others would mean only working 80 per cent of their hours but still receiving their full pay.
However, companies may not have to agree to a four-day week through compressed hours.
Labour’s ‘Plan to Make Work Pay’ document promised that Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government would be ‘making flexible working the default from day one for all workers, except where it is not reasonably feasible’
Where the official line will be drawn will depend on how the Government converts the phrase ‘not reasonably feasible’ in the legal documents (stock photo)
The key line which suggests this can be found in Labour’s ‘Plan to Make Work Pay’ document, published in May just before the general election, after years of consulting with trade unions and companies.
It promised that Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government would be ‘making flexible working the default from day one for all workers, except where it is not reasonably feasible’.
Meaning, a company will not have to approve a request for a four-day week if it can prove that it is ‘not reasonably feasible’.
For example, nurses, ambulance drivers and teachers will not be able to request a four-day week as it is not realistic for the profession they are in.
Where the official line will be drawn will depend on how the Government converts the phrase ‘not reasonably feasible’ in the legal documents.
Labour promised to table legislation on the new workers’ rights package within 100 days of taking office, which would be in the middle of October.
The Government has stressed that it will make the changes in consulation with businesses, suggesting changes may not be implemented until next year.
