Experts call on the government to look at flexible four-day work weeks ahead of massive Australasian trial

Pressure will be put on the government as an employer to look at flexibility measures like a four-day working week, says an economic expert.

Speaking at an online panel hosted by CEDA on the four-day working week, University of Queensland’s professor John Quiggin said the combination of full employment and the COVID-19 pandemic had led to the realisation by employees that things could be done differently.

“That’s something reflected in the interest of governments as employers,” Quiggin said.

“We’re also seeing, I think, within the union movement, a bit of tension between a continuing push for more flexibility for workers […] versus still a significant valourisation of work — that more work, more jobs, more hours is always good.”

At the federal level, the APSC expects the topic of a four-day working week to come up as part of the ongoing APS workplace bargaining.

CPSU national secretary Melissa Donnelly previously told The Mandarin that flexibility was a “central issue” for employees, like the right to work from home.

“The four-day work week, and exploring how that may work in the APS, is another area of interest to employees. Like in other jurisdictions, a pilot or trial may be the best way to examine how the four-day work week could operate in practice,” Donnelly said at the time.

At the moment, the four-day working week movement is being led by the private sector.

The results from trials by 4 Day Week Global have thus far been promising, with Boston College economist Juliet Schor saying during the panel the “proof was in the pudding”.

“We’re probably close to 200 different companies now in these trials, only a handful have decided not to continue […] so very, very successful from the companies’ point of view,” Schor said.

“Employee well-being results have been off the charts.”

The model being proposed by 4 Day Week Global is the 100:80:100 model: 100% pay, 80% time, and 100% productivity.

For the public service looking to recruit the next generation, trends in how millennials and Gen Z work should be paid attention to by leaders.

During the CEDA panel, 4 Day Week Global managing director and founder Charlotte Lockhart said business leaders should be prepared for a “different way of working” to arrive.

“I think there is a general acceptance from governments and from businesses that reducing work time is part of the future. So, therefore, it’s just about the logistics of getting there,” Lockhart said.

Lockhart quoted Henry Ford, who was the first employer to adopt a five-day working week in the 1920s: “whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right”.

“The difference is the agility in the leadership thinking … it comes down to being prepared,” the founder added.

An Australasian pilot of the four-day working week through 4 Day Week Global will begin “shortly”.

This article was first published by The Mandarin.