The four-day working week – is it closer than we thought?

March 4, 2025

The four-day working week – is it closer than we thought?

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By Harriette Loveluck-Edwards

With a four-day working week recently being permanently adopted by 200 employers in the UK, our employment law expert Harriette Loveluck-Edwards looks at what this may mean for employers in practice.

The largest four-day working week pilot took place for 6-months between June and December 2022. The 61 participating employers implemented a 20% reduction in working time with no loss of pay for staff. You can read more about this here.

The results showed decreased levels of anxiety and fatigue across workforces, while mental and physical health improved with 71% of staff reporting lower levels of burnout. The number of staff leaving the participating companies also decreased significantly, dropping by 57% over the trial period.

According to the 4 Day Week Foundation, following the trial’s end in 2023, 56 of the 61 participating companies decided to continue. It’s now been reported that 200 more employers in the UK have signed up for a permanent four-day working week for their employees with no loss of pay. These employers span a range of sectors, from small charities to large tech companies.

What is the UK Government’s position on this?

Some MPs are calling on ministers to consider a four-day working week and showing support for an amendment to the Employment Rights Bill tabled by MP, Peter Dowd.

Dowd has claimed that the “benefits of greater productivity in the economy as a result of new technology such as artificial intelligence must be passed back to workers in more free leisure time”. If adopted, the amendment would commit the UK Government to establish a body to provide recommendations on how a transition could be made from a five-day working week to a four-day working week across the UK.

However, views still remain divided on the idea and there are still no plans published by the Government on this.

What might this mean for employers?

As things stand, we are unlikely to see the four-day working week made compulsory in the near future.

However, on 6 April 2024 the law changed to allow all workers and employees in the UK the right to make a flexible working request  from the first day of their employment. The number of requests an employee can make has also doubled to allow 2 requests in a 12-month period. Employees may utilise this process to request a contractual change to reduce their working days to four days.

Employers are required to discuss the request with the employee and can only refuse for certain reasons.

What can employers do now?

If your organisation is considering transitioning to a four-day working week, these are our top tips:

• Plan ahead – think carefully about how you would maintain productivity and service levels in each area of your organisation. Consider implementing a trial period, which gives you the flexibility of reverting to a 5-day week or making further changes if you need to.
• Consult and communicate your conditions in writing to your staff. Consult with your staff before you start, to get their views on whether they are interested in the idea of a 4-day week and how they see it working. Any trial period should then take place within strict parameters which make it clear to staff that the scheme may not be adopted permanently if it is not successful. Set out how you will measure the success of the trial, and what they need to do to contribute to its success.
• Review your contracts – any permanent changes to employees’ working hours will need to be reflected in their employment contracts. Any temporary change should not be reflected in contracts and it should be made clear to employees that they won’t have a contractual right to amend their hours unless you decide to make the change permanent.

Interested to hear more on this topic?

At the Future of Work conference on 14 May 2025, we will be hearing from Dr David Frayne, a lead researcher on two national pilots of the four-day working week. The conference, taking place at the ICC Wales, will also be welcoming a number of other expert speakers on important topics around the Future of Work and HR, such as AI and neurodiversity. Find out more about the conference here – tickets on sale now.

To speak to one of our employment law experts about the four-day working week or any other HR or employment law queries, get in touch on 02920 829 100 or via our contact form.