A Tyneside charity has become the latest to trial a four day working week as part of national programme.
The health and wellbeing organisation, based at Royal Quays, is one of 43 'Active Partnerships' in England designed to reduce physical inactivity, employing 24 people. It is running a six month trial starting next week, in which employees will work 30 hours per week between Monday to Thursday, rather than the traditional 37 hours in five days, for no loss of pay.
The organisation is taking part in the '4 Day Week National Roll Out Programme 2023' run by the UK think tank Autonomy, which comes on the back of a national trial featuring 70 businesses and more than 2,900 staff. Autonomy's research found that working reduced hours maintained productivity and boosted employee wellbeing, leading to 92% of participants either extending the trial or adopting a four-day working week permanently.
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CEO Clare Morley explains: "We are excited to be taking part in this trial. We strongly believe in our employees’ health and wellbeing and have spent considerable time looking at the benefits a four-day working week brings to an organisation and its people. We passionately believe that a four-day week with no change to salary or benefits will create a happier workforce and will have an equally positive impact on our productivity, partner experience and our purpose as a charity.
"We see this as a positive step towards a more modern way of working, one that supports our culture of putting wellbeing first, making sure everybody is rested and has a good work-life balance."
Rise joins other North East organisations including Atom Bank and Newcastle's Evolved Search who have either trialled a four day week, or made it the norm in their workplaces.
Kyle Lewis, co-director of Autonomy, said: "It's been great to work with such a wide range of organisations across the UK who are embracing the four-day week as a way of supporting their employees' wellbeing. From our experience, the four-day week with no loss of pay improves productivity and can be a win-win for both workers and employers.
"It seems more and more inevitable that the four-day week is going to be the future of work and not-for-profits like Rise should be congratulated for leading the way."
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