# UK's new right to request a four-day work week

- **Episode:** [126](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/126.md) (2024-09-10)
- **Type:** news-roundup
- **Tags:** four-day-work-week, uk-employment-law, work-life-balance
- **Time:** 2:06–7:18 (start 126s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/126?t=126](https://truthliesandwork.com/126?t=126)

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[2:06] Al Elliott: Consider it cued. Lee, what have you seen this week?
[2:11] Leanne Elliott: Well, it seems we're in a season of, um, of new workers' rights. So I can't remember if it was last week, a couple of weeks ago, we reported on the Australian government bringing in the right to disconnect law. Um, and this week we've got a major story coming out of the UK that could also change the way millions of people work. So workers are set to gain the legal right to request a 4-day work week under a new law expected to be rolled out this autumn. The idea is pretty straightforward: employees will be allowed to compress their hours, working the same number of hours in 4 days instead of 5. There's always a catch, isn't there?
[2:50] Al Elliott: Yeah. Yeah
[2:51] Leanne Elliott: So under these new rules, companies will be legally required to consider these requests unless they can prove it's not reasonably feasible. This shift is being championed by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner
[3:03] Al Elliott: That's the Raver. Angela Raver from NBC
[3:06] Leanne Elliott: Angela Raver. Good for you, girl. Um, so yes, championed by her in close consultation with trade unions and businesses, but not everyone is thrilled about it. The Conservatives, unsurprisingly, aren't a fan. They're warning that this move could hurt businesses, make operations more expensive, and lower productivity. Kevin Hollinrake, who is now the Shadow Business Secretary, a Conservative, has voiced concerns, saying that businesses are petrified of these new day-one flexible working rights
[3:37] Al Elliott: Come on, Kev
[3:38] Leanne Elliott: Come on, Kev. So while critics argue that the new laws could slow economic growth, Labour sources are fighting back. They point out that flexible working could actually improve productivity and job satisfaction, especially for parents and caregivers. In fact, compressed hours could be the key to keeping more people in the workforce, especially those with caregiving responsibilities. What does it mean in practice? Well, it isn't just about working from home, it's about giving employees the power to restructure their work week. So yeah, working longer hours Monday through to Thursday, having Fridays free for the weekend, or however you choose to structure it, Sounds, sounds good. Does it? I don't know. The real test will see how it's all going to be rolled out. But Al, thoughts?
[4:22] Al Elliott: The tradition, if you go back to one of our episodes, and I can't remember which one it is, but it's about the 4-day work week, and we had the world expert on there, and he was saying it's not about compressing everything 5 days into 4. It's about doing 4 days worth of work in 4 days, and that's it. So this, I can see this is good, but then also I can't see what Kev The shadow education business minister, whatever his name, whatever his position is
[4:46] Leanne Elliott: Business secretary
[4:46] Al Elliott: Business secretary. I can't, I can't see his point here because how is it possibly going to affect someone if they— someone does the work of 5 days in 4 days? Of course, there's things like, uh, perhaps production shift workers where you can't work any faster. There's things like perhaps emergency services. Those are things where you have to work a certain number of days to cover. But in the majority of businesses, I can't see how this is not going to work. The only thing I can see is that it doesn't sound a lot, doesn't sound that fair to the employee having to work, squeeze everything into 4 days. But that could be the trade-off. And it's unlikely someone was gonna come in, a government was gonna come in and say straight away, oh yeah, yeah, we're just chopping a day off the work week. The other flip side of this is from a kind of a greater economic idea is that there'll be 3 days of leisure. So potentially 1 extra, a third extra spending, which could potentially boost our economy, which at the moment in the UK, I think like most around the world, is a bit dogshit
[5:38] Leanne Elliott: Yeah
[5:40] Al Elliott: But, uh, that's my thoughts. Lee, what about you?
[5:42] Leanne Elliott: Same, same. I mean, I think that the research that we have seen from the, the trials, um, is based on people working a 4-day work week, being paid for 5 days, working the hours of 4. And that has shown massive benefits both for employees and employers in terms of productivity, in terms of improved mental health, physical health. It is I mean, it's— there's an infinite number of positive outcomes for employees and also for employers from this pilot study run by Joe O'Connor and his team. We will leave a link to that episode in the show notes. I think this just sounds a classic kind of the what being disconnected from the why
[6:21] Al Elliott: Mm-hmm
[6:22] Leanne Elliott: What do people want? A 4-day work week. Cool, then just let them work their hours in 4 days. That's a 4-day work week. No, that's not a 4-day work week. That's not what the research is telling us. So yeah, I'm the same. I think, I don't know, I want to be optimistic about it and say it's a step in the right direction. I personally have worked a 4-day work week for an organization, and I was frustrated that my pay wasn't reflected the same because I was essentially doing the work in 4 days. So again, I appreciate for, particularly for, um, for parents, it could be a really good way to make sure you're actually getting paid for the work that you're doing. I worry that in practice it might be a bit tricky and have a bit more of an impact on productivity, performance, and employee wellbeing in a negative way than, than perhaps Angela has, um, fully thought through. But anything around flexibility is a good thing. I think it, as all these things, it'll come down to the implementation. Al, what have you seen this week?