Employees following a four-day workweek model perform better and enjoy improved well-being, a long-term trial has found.
South Cambridgeshire District Council trialled the reduced working week on full pay earlier this year and is now seeking to extend the experiment following glowing results.
On top of clear benefits for its employees, a report delivered to the Liberal-Democrat-run council projected nearly £1 million in total savings from the policy.
The council successfully reduced the number of agency staff covering vacancies from 23 to just nine, saving approximately £776,000.
But, despite the glowing results, the Government has issued the council a formal warning stating leaders should “cease immediately” with plans to extend the policy.
Council leaders hope to extend the four-day working week into March 2024 after finding the policy has sparked a vast array of improvements.
Staff turnover has dramatically reduced, dropping by 36 per cent, a rate closely followed by sickness, which has overall dropped by 33 per cent since the trial commenced in January.
Employees also imported mental and physical health improvements, and council complaints dropped by 2.5 per cent, all without the worsening of council service provision.
When the trial was extended to waste services in September, bin collection rates surged, hitting or exceeding a 99.70 per cent target across south Cambridgeshire and Cambridge.
The Government is not supportive of councils that seek to extend the policy beyond its planned finishing date, however, as the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has been keen to stress.
The department warned last week that any council pursuing a four-day working week would be “on notice” and should “cease immediately”.
New statutory guidance has revealed officials are working to introduce measures that “ensure that the sector is clear” the policy should not be adopted.
A best-value notice issued by the Government to South Cambridgeshire Council warns that, should it continue with the trial, it would be monitored on a weekly basis.
Local government minister Lee Rowley said: “In normal circumstances, the Government of course respects the right of councils to make their own decisions on key issues.
“There are also times, however, when the Government deems it proportionate to step in to ensure that residents’ value for money is protected. The issue of the four-day working week is one of those times.”
