Labour MP tables bill to bring in four-day work week

Peter Dowd, the Labour MP for Bootle, is campaigning for the current 48-hours maximum to be cut back to give “every British worker the chance to move to a four-day week”.

The bill would amend the Working Time Regulations Act 1998 to reduce hours, with any extra time being paid to employers as overtime, at 1.5 times the worker’s rate of pay.

Dowd, who is also the former Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said British workers currently clock up the longest hours in Europe.

“I am introducing this legislation because we’re long overdue a shorter working week,” said Dowd.

“In the UK, workers put in some of the longest working hours across Europe, while pay and productivity remain low in comparison.

“In numerous examples across the world the four-day week with no loss of pay has been shown to boost productivity and the wellbeing of workers.’

The bill is due to be discussed in the House of Commons on 18 October. It must proceed successfully through several stages before it can become law.

The move towards a four-day week is a popular idea among workers, particularly post-Covid.

There is currently a push for companies to adopt a shorter working week – crucially with no loss of pay – as competition to lure and retain employees grows.

A pilot scheme is currently underway at more than 70 UK companies trialling the four-day week.

More than 3,000 workers at these businesses are half-way through a six-month trial were they work four days, rather than five, with no loss of pay.

The pilot is being monitored by researchers at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, as well as Boston College in the US, in partnership with the campaign group 4 Day Week Global, the 4 Day Week UK Campaign and thinktank Autonomy.

The team surveyed the companies in the scheme last week at the half-way point, finding that 86% said they were likely to retain the four-day week.

88% of respondents said that the change is working ‘well’ for their business.

34% said productivity improved while 46% said productivity has “maintained the same level”. 15% said it improved significantly.

However, some found the move to reduced hours “trickier”.

Asked how smooth the transition was going on a scale from 1 to 5, 5 being “extremely smooth” and 1 being “extremely challenging”, 29% selected 5, 49% selected 4 and 20% selected 3.

Joe O’Connor, the chief executive of 4 Day Week Global, said there was no way to “turn the clock back” to the pre-pandemic world.

“Increasingly, managers and executives are embracing a new model of work which focuses on quality of outputs, not quantity of hours,” he said.

“Workers have emerged from the pandemic with different expectations around what constitutes a healthy life-work balance.”