4 Day Week - Global on LinkedIn: What happened in 4 Day Work Week news this week? (2024)

Is it time for a 4 day work week in healthcare?Could it be the answer to high staff turnover and burnout? Let's explain how. ⬇A shorter working week will contribute to solving hospital staff shortages, and it has the potential to make HUGE cost savings. This is what we believe and what FNV, the Netherlands largest trade union discovered in itself recent study.They recently conducted a poll on over 3300 hospital staff on the topic of a 4 day work week and its potential impact on healthcare.👩⚕️ 82% of hospital staff said that they believe that a shorter week has a positive effect on attracting and retaining colleagues.👨⚕️ 93% of respondents expect a positive or even very positive effect on job satisfaction if the working week becomes shorter.But will working less time mean that quality of care will suffer?🏥 Less than 20% of respondents expect that a shorter full-time standard will have a negative effect on the quality of care.📈 81% think it has a positive effect or are neutral about it.👩💻 12% would like to participate in pilot 4 day week co-ordinated trials.How can they reduce their working hours when they are so busy already? We've identified a few approaches:🔄 Use technology to optimize certain tasks and work processes. ↔ Enhance coordination between the various departments.❌ Get rid of unnecessary tasks, such as (double) administration, sign-off lists, unnecessary meetings and refilling carts and searching for materials.What are the potential cost savings of introducing a shorter work week in healthcare? FNV have done the maths ➕⬇"It is difficult to predict exactly the costs and benefits associated with a shorter full-time standard. However, based on available figures, including personnel costs, absenteeism figures and estimated time savings by working smarter and eliminating less important tasks, we think we can make a good estimate.💰 For hospitals (excluding UMCs) we arrive at an annual saving of 23.3 million euros. We have calculated the costs for deploying additional staff at 163.3 million euros.These costs are offset by expected benefits, due to an expected decrease in absenteeism as a result of less work pressure.💶 This can result in savings of 186.5 million euros per year."Healthcare across the globe is in crisis. It is becoming increasingly more challenging to find and retain staff. They are experiencing extremely dangerous levels of burnout. Medical error costs lives and the taxpayer. Reducing work-time for healthcare staff is a way to tackle these problems.Is it time for a 4 day week in healthcare? How should we approach work-time reduction in this industry?Dr. Dale Whelehan Louis Goulmy Juliet B.

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How employers can address the problems from the State of the Global Workforce Findings from Gallup. ⬇💬 Don't engineer your employees' social time in work, instead create the space for them to engineer it themselves.🤕 Organizational changes are the way to improve employee well-being, not employee-led interventions which are equivalent of putting a bandage over something that needs stitches.🤝 Attracting and retaining your talent is dependent on company culture, what are you going to do that differentiates you from the rest? (Hint, try reducing your work-time!)📊 What systems and support can you implement that will actually have a positive impact on managing your teams' workloads?Are there any other takeaways that we've missed?What should employers be focusing on over the next year to improve the state of the workplace. It is worrying that managers are struggling so much.

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Join us in congratulating our co-founder Andrew Barnes ONZM on his recent citation to be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.Andrew is to receive this King's Birthday Honour for his services to business and philanthropy, included in that his work with 4 Day Week Global. 🎖 He has held governance roles in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand and as a philanthropist has contributed to a range of causes and initiatives personally or through his company Perpetual Guardian.Andrew is the founder and architect of 4 Day Week Global, a not-for-profit community providing a platform to support the idea of a reduced-hour work philosophy.He trialled the 4 Day Week with Perpetual Guardian in 2018, receiving international attention, and 4 Day Week Global has since been named in the 2023 TIME100 Most Influential Companies.His 2020 book ‘The 4 Day Week’ has been translated into several languages and widely distributed.He has led a successful programme of innovation and digitisation, re-shaping the trustee sector in New Zealand and consolidating Perpetual Guardian as the largest trustee company and the largest non-government philanthropy entity in New Zealand.He led the acquisition of crowdfunding platform Givealittle, was a driving force behind establishing the Hi-Tech Foundation, and has led and advocated for responsible lending practices in banking and credit services.Mr Barnes’ broad philanthropic support has extended to New Zealand Liberation Museum Te Arawhata in Le Quesnoy, France, the Auckland Primary Schools Music Festival, Otago Museum’s Perpetual Guardian Planetarium, the RSA, heritage restorations, and educational scholarships.Congratulations Andrew! 🎉 Charlotte L. Dr. Dale Whelehan 4 Day World Karen Lowe Alex Soojung-Kim Pang Debbie Bailey GAICD Victoria S. Rebecca Roberts Donia Osama Jack Lockhart Úna Harty Franco Zullo Philippe DU PAYRAT Louis Goulmy Griet Deca Renata Rivetti Veit Hailperin Jonas Ileka Shuchi Singh

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That's not a typo! Greece is introducing a 6-day work week on July 1st.Here's all you need to know about the new law: ⬇ - The law was passed in autumn of 2023.- It says that full time workers (5 x 8hr days) can now be asked to work a 6th day.- It was introduced to help with labor shortages.- Employers will have to pay workers an additional 40% on top of their wage for that sixth day.- They can be called in to work with just 24 hours notice.How are Greece reacting to this?They believe that it may lead to further exploitation of workers and that it causes difficulties for working parents who are already struggling to cover the cost of childcare.Greece is already the EU nation with the longest hours worked on average per week at 41 hours. This law means that they will likely extend that average.In a time where the 4 day work week is gaining a lot of traction across the European continent, it comes as a surprise that Greece is deciding to go the other way.What do you think of this new law? Why are we seeing this being introduced now?Anna-Carin Alderin Sarah Uldal Veit Hailperin Philippe DU PAYRAT Pedro Gomes Renata Rivetti Beatriz Lerer Franco Zullo Carsten Meier Jan Bühren Kim Hilgert Griet Deca Gabriela Brasil Dr. Dale Whelehan Karen Lowe Debbie Bailey GAICD John Hopkins, PhD

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The 4 day work week isn't just about one extra weekend day every week.It's far more impactful than that. Here are 9 reasons why. ⬇ 1️⃣ It's good for business. Companies who have participated in our trials across the globe have reported 9% rise in revenue, 15% reduction in absenteeism and a 22% reduction in resignation rates. 🤝 2️⃣ It's good for the environment. Commuting time was cut by 33 minutes per week, meaning less cars on the road. Past participants have reported lower electricity costs due to one less day of working. People report spending more time in nature and engaging in sustainable activities such as volunteering and being outdoors. 🌳 3️⃣ It improves employee engagement. Time satisfaction increases by over 50% and work-life balance too. Employees reported better relationships with their managers as a result of reducing their work-time. 👨💼 4️⃣ It improves mental well-being. Burnout, work-related stress and anxiety were reported to reduce by around two-thirds. A happier workforce is a healthier workforce. 💞 5️⃣ It improves sleep. Employees reported sleeping an extra half an hour each night when they worked a shorter workweek. Employees also reported significantly less fatigue and sleep-related problems. 😴 6️⃣ It supports gender equality. Past trial results uncovered that men in heterosexual relationships spent more time on childcare and housework than when they worked a 5 day work week. By allowing both parents more time off, it relieves some of the burden of unpaid work that many women face. 👯♀️ 7️⃣ It improves physical health. People who work a 4 day week not only exercise more frequently, they also exercise for longer sessions. On average they increased their exercise time by 24 minutes every week. 🏋♀️ 8️⃣ It's good for families. Parents reported spending less on childcare, having more time to spend with their children and finding it easier to balance work and home responsibilities. 👨👩👧👦 9️⃣ It supports business growth. After 12 months of trialing a 4 day work week, 100% of companies decided to continue to make it fully permanent after discovering the positive impact it had on growing their business. 100% of leadership of 4 day week companies feel positive or very positive about its impact on their business. It is an exercise in business efficiency after all.Can you think of any other reason why reducing our work-time is good for our world?Which of these benefits are you most interested in unlocking for your business thorough time transformation? 💡 Dr. Dale Whelehan Gabriela Brasil Debbie Bailey GAICD Karen Lowe Sarah Uldal Louis Goulmy Philippe DU PAYRAT Veit Hailperin Anna-Carin Alderin Franco Zullo Renata Rivetti Alex Soojung-Kim Pang Jonas Ileka Donia Osama Victoria S. Úna Harty

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What is 4 Day World and how does it differ from 4 Day Week Global? ⬇ 4 Day Week Global = works with businesses and organizations to trial shorter work weeks so they can unlock benefits such as higher productivity, lower absenteeism, better employee well-being etc.4 Day World = partners with investors, researchers and global leaders to understand how time can play a critical role in our quest to create a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.While both are interlinked and contribute to each other's mission, they stand separate to best achieve their goals.Curious?💬 Reach out to us or Dr. Dale Whelehan to learn more.🔬 Follow 4 Day World so you can be the first to see our new exciting research in this space.💵 Donate to us to fund our work in creating a million years of new free time.

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What if emails were banned after 5pm? 📩 ❌ 17 countries have now implemented a 'Right to Disconnect' into their legislation - France, Ireland and Australia included.This means that employers are not permitted to contact their employees outside of work hours.The 'Right to Disconnect' was born out of the massive changes the Covid pandemic had on work patterns and work culture. Employees were increasingly working outside of their assigned hours as work and life became more blended than ever before.Research on the right to disconnect has found that it has positive impacts on the employees such as:✅ Improved work-life balance✅ Increased productivity with more focused work during office hours.✅ Clear boundaries between work and personal time.✅ Higher job satisfaction which enhances morale and lower turnover.✅ Encourages finishing tasks within working hours.Opponents to the legislation say that it reduces flexibility, causes delays for urgent matters and doesn't consider different timezones and schedules.What is your take on the right to disconnect? Do you think it is a win for workers in today's working landscape?

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2023: 4 day week trials in 5 countries.2024: 4 day week trials in 19 countries. But which countries? ⬇ 💭 January: Brazil 🇧🇷 kicked off its six-month country trial. 4 Day Week Brazil and Reconnect | Happiness at Work are the National Partners. They released their half-time results recently with some really strong indicators that is set to be one of the most impactful trials to date with regards to employee well-being. We are looking forward to sharing their final report soon.February: Germany 🇩🇪 launched their first ever 4 day week trial. A record 45 companies are taking part in this trial. Intraprenör, the National Partner, are in the process of gathering their data for final report.March: National Partners such as the Netherlands 🇳🇱(Louis Goulmy) and France 🇫🇷 (Philippe DU PAYRAT) began recruiting companies to join their own 4 day week pilots. These will kick off in September.April: Training commenced for our newer National Partner recruits such as Belgium 🇧🇪(Tryangle Happiness and Well-Being at Work), Italy 🇮🇹 (Franco Zullo), Namibia 🇳🇦 (Jonas Ileka), Chile 🇨🇱(Sebastian Merino von Bernath) and Switzerland 🇨🇭(Veit Hailperin). May: Sweden 🇸🇪, Norway 🇳🇴 and other Nordic countries held their first ever 4 Day Week Nordic Summit, welcoming over 120 attendees. Organizations have already begun trialing a 4 day work week with our National Partners PaceLab and The Rework, led by Anna-Carin Alderin and Sarah Uldal, respectively.June: Portugal 🇵🇹 are releasing their government-funded 4 day week trial results. They are the first government to incentivise a 6-month shorter work week trial for private companies. Pedro Gomes and Rita Fontinha are working on finalizing the data for the final report. This will be launched soon!July onwards: Other 4 Day Week Global National Partners such as Croatia 🇭🇷, and India 🇮🇳 will begin preparing for their 4 day week country pilots later in the year.But we're still missing a few! They're countries who have trialed before and have trials taking place in organizations as part of our Global Group Pilots. Can you guess who these might be?

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This is how the 4 day work week is becoming more popular.Propelled by worker demand and chief executives worried about attracting talent, it has also caught the attention of lawmakers and billionaire hedge-fund managers.How do we know that the 4 day week is gaining traction? ⬇ ✅ 3 in 10 US CEOs of $500M+ annual revenue say their company is exploring a 4 day or 4.5 day work week. (KPMG survey)✅ The 4 day work week was top perk listed by workers post-pandemic. (Gartner)✅ We're running trials in businesses and non-profits in 19 countries this year, up from 5 countries in 2023.✅ 100% of companies who trial a 4 day week for 12 months, continue with it.Joel Dehlin, CEO of Kuali, Inc., an education software developer, who's company has switched to a 4 day week says they haven't lost a single worker since the switch."Employee churn is the most expensive productivity loss there is,” Dehlin said. “The fact we don’t have to retrain employees is a big deal.”City of Golden's Police Department has been working a 4 day week too.“Our people are motivated. They’re refreshed. They want to come to work. They want to get their stuff done, and it gives them the opportunity to go out there and do more of that proactive stuff,” Sgt. Stephanie Sipes said.Our Director of Research and Innovation, Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, notes that given the 24/7 demands of police work and the potential life-or-death stakes, the police department’s test clears a pretty high bar for the 4 day work week’s credibility.What do you think is the biggest push factor for the 4 day work week?Reach out if you're interested in trialing a shorter work week in your organization. We're the leading experts in work-time reduction. 🚀 Read more at the link below.

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