Four day working week

[outoftown]

The four day working week idea isn’t doing the same hours over less days. Any employer can do that and the government would say nothing. It’s working 20% less hours or 28 hours instead of 35.

It depends where you fall in tax bracketing a bit too ..
I was lucky I guess , worked in healthcare, dropped from 35 hrs over 5 days to 30 over four days .
Worked out about 5quid an hour worse off , so did my self employed thing on my day off and earned treble what that extra day was

 

[Norman_Conquest]

This isn't about that. Loads of people have work patterns like that anyway. The article talks about reducing hours by 20% on the same pay. Do you think the NHS would be able to cope if all the nurses reduced their hours by 20%?

I don't think any of us really know the answer to that, we all know that hospital wards are understaffed and can only operate by staff working long hours.

 

[SilentProf]

This isn't about that. Loads of people have work patterns like that anyway. The article talks about reducing hours by 20% on the same pay. Do you think the NHS would be able to cope if all the nurses reduced their hours by 20%?

Not the way it’s currently run but if it were properly funded and managed it’s definitely possible. Some industries are more suited to a four day week but there are massive inefficiencies in the NHS with high sickness and staff retention issues.

 

[TeessideCleveland]

I see the government has warned councils not to adopt a four day working week, yet Cambridgeshire Council states they have saved £500,000 on not having to employ agency workers. They also state that it improved productivity and the well being of its employees.

I would have been all over this when I was working and think it can only be good to improve the work life balance.

Ministers warn English councils not to adopt four-day working weeks

Central government’s attempt to restrict councils’ ability to try out the practice is ‘a massive overreach’, say council leaders

www.theguardian.com

Tories don't care. They think forcing staff in 5 days a week will boost the town centre economies. Having been made to travel in the extra day(s) with the extra cost involved....of course they'll then want to spend more money on food etc

 

[Norman_Conquest]

Tories don't care. They think forcing staff in 5 days a week will boost the town centre economies. Having been made to travel in the extra day(s) with the extra cost involved....of course they'll then want to spend more money on food etc

I don't just think it is the government mindset we need to change but the mindset of the workers. I can remember in the 80's and 90's when I was still on the tools and would go for a job, if there was no overtime I wouldn't take it. We shouldn't have to rely on overtime, we should be earning a decent enough hourly wage to meet our needs.

Other countries have a totally different outlook to the British who tend to live to work rather than the European outlook of work to live and focus more on their families and private life than work.

 

[Norman_Conquest]

Tories don't care. They think forcing staff in 5 days a week will boost the town centre economies. Having been made to travel in the extra day(s) with the extra cost involved....of course they'll then want to spend more money on food etc

There is another article attached to the one above regarding the same council and the four day week which highlights following staffing issues: - When I worked at South Cambridgeshire district council, there was a real disparity between the workforce. They were either ‘lifers’ or ‘short-termers’, there was nobody in the middle, and that cannot be good for an organisation. I saw quite a few young people coming in and they rarely stuck around.”

What happens when all these lifers retire? There's got to be some incentive to retain staff. When I moved into Education, it was the school hours that kept me there, there was many a time I could have moved on for more money but it would have been whole time instead of term time. The term time made it hard to give up.

 

[m3t4tr0n]

In so far as I've seen to date, people work more efficiently over 4 than 5 days. Work life balance plays a massive part

 

[outoftown]

This isn't about that. Loads of people have work patterns like that anyway. The article talks about reducing hours by 20% on the same pay. Do you think the NHS would be able to cope if all the nurses reduced their hours by 20%?

It's not coping now .. the t & c bottom to middle end are so rediculous that it's no wonder vacancies are unfilled forever.
I have no concept of the current child care allowance situation.. it could be a factor on things above 30 hrs ??

Did my 20 + years Frontline in NHS / addictions / mental health / criminal justice..
No way would I go back for the current gap between that work and Aldi wages .
( I don't work in Aldi , yet )

 

[outoftown]

Not the way it’s currently run but if it were properly funded and managed it’s definitely possible. Some industries are more suited to a four day week but there are massive inefficiencies in the NHS with high sickness and staff retention issues.

I'm no mathematician.
But for seven day services ...
Surely 2 x 4day teams is about right cover ?
( holidays , sickness, maternity etc )

 

[The_Tiler]

Years ago (late 80's to early 90's) I was working for a no longer existing tech Company called Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) at Reading. I would fly down on the 06:00'ish from Teesside to Heathrow and bus it to the location, arriving around 10:00 & work till 18:00 to get off early into the digs then work two 12 hours days till 21:00, on the last day till 08:00-14:00 and fly back. Was nice to get the three days off and my boss was just a 'get the job done and I'm happy' type so it was never an issue.

Winersh Triangle? I worked there briefly, played in the 5 a side tournaments. My brother started his career there, got relocated to the North West at the age of 17. Got put up in digs for months and paid his expenses when buying his first house. Great company to work for. I still have my Digital Swatch.

 

[Emmersons_BrazillianDong]

overtime every weekend at my place at the minute. Tons of people off sick. Nowhere near enough staff. The idea of working four days a week is a complete pipe dream. Loads of places are like that. If councils are working four days a week every other public sector organisation will be asking why the **** are we not resourced like that.

Sick days since flexible working, have fell through the floor for organisations who offer hybrid working practices.

No more people phoning in sick with a hangover, they just log on from home and do 70% of what they would do in a normal day instead.

This can work in many places but agree with the sentiment of 13 years of tory austerity.

 

[swordtrombonefish]

Winersh Triangle? I worked there briefly, played in the 5 a side tournaments. My brother started his career there, got relocated to the North West at the age of 17. Got put up in digs for months and paid his expenses when buying his first house. Great company to work for. I still have my Digital Swatch.

They paid for my flights for 6 months and were paying handsomely for my services even back then!

It was DEC Park on Imperial Way near Junction 11 on the M4, I think it is now a car sales park with multiple vendors Mercedes, Audi etc

 

[AcklamAngel]

Can understand why people like the 4 day working week if they the get the work/family life balance correct. With this being trialled in a public sector environment are the existing 5 days being covered by staff? Or is Friday a complete shut down? Surely certain office departments in councils need to be covered for the 5 days. If the council is saving money will this be passed onto the electorate and or services improved?

 

[Priv]

We have an early finish on a Friday at 2:30pm, I work from home that day and on a Monday. I have a 3 year old at nursery so that alone saves me over £400 a month in nursery fees. The government hours pay enough for 2 days a week I pay for 1.

The other 3 days im generally doing site visits or meeting with customers regarding upcoming projects with a night away maybe once a fortnight. I go to to the office once or occasionally twice a month but it is a 2.5 hours drive from where I live.

This is probably the best job I’ve had for work life balance, I can’t fault it at all, if I need any time off for anything no matter how short notice it’s granted. My wife is Military and when she’s away there is no expectation for me to stay away for work, if I can rope the grand parents in, then il do the odd night away, otherwise I pass it to someone else to do on my behalf.

Funnily enough we have almost zero staff turnover with internal or external roles. I’ve been here 6 years, and since our current MD took over 5 years ago, no external based staff have left and we’ve had no one leave internally other than 2 retirements. Staff numbers have grown from 14 to 26 in that time. We are well paid but it’s not then best in the industry, I could probably walk out tomorrow and start a new job with a 5-10k payrise next week but money isn’t my main priority.

 

[festa5]

This is Tories in microcosm.

Don't trust the plebs, work everyone to the bone, prehistoric, inflexible thinking, we know better than you despite not being experts in the field or any evidence that's contrary to our rigid thinking.

A depressing combination of cynicism and stupidity.

 

[Sergio]

Great if you can get it, absolutely no chance in my game!

 

[Colgates_shaving_foam]

This is Tories in microcosm.

Don't trust the plebs, work everyone to the bone, prehistoric, inflexible thinking, we know better than you despite not being experts in the field or any evidence that's contrary to our rigid thinking.

A depressing combination of cynicism and stupidity.

It shows how out of touch they are with working people.

They don't have to concern themselves with problems such as child care as they have nannies, probably call them au pairs. They do not have to worry about the NHS as they have private treatment. They do not worry about state schools as they and their family have never been in one.

 

[h_m_boro]

When was the last time a Tory MP commuted into Westminster and had a 5 day, 40+ hr week.

Had to juggle childcare.

Needed to finish early to pick the kids up from school.

Needed to take a. Afternoon off for a hospital appointment.

Never

They are fooking clueless, and this kind of scenario plays exactly to the Daily Fail reading retired 70+ well to do party faithful. Who also don't have this issue. Who will also tut loudly about it not being like that in my day etc etc.

What a sad, bitter country we have become.

 

[festa5]

It shows how out of touch they are with working people.

They don't have to concern themselves with problems such as child care as they have nannies, probably call them au pairs. They do not have to worry about the NHS as they have private treatment. They do not worry about state schools as they and their family have never been in one.

Yes, exactly.

And it's why they were (and are) so slow to react to the cost of living crisis and blasé about raising interest rates so sharply.

It's a minor irritation to them, "chicken feed" in the grand scheme of things and they struggle to grasp how seriously it impacts most people. It should be their undoing come the GE.

 

[equaliser]

This is Tories in microcosm.


A depressing combination of cynicism and stupidity.

you forgot cruelty