From today, Irish businesses can sign up to trial a four day work week.
The pilot scheme will begin in January.
Also, it has been developed by the Four Day Week Ireland campaign.
It says their programme will reduce people's working hours but maintain productivity.
Access To Academic Research
A four day work week will become the norm for businesses who sign up to this pilot programme.
The Chair of the 4 Day Week campaign is Joe O’Connor.
He says employers will have support to ensure all work gets done:
"We've a collaborative research partnership with UCD and Boston College."
"So that means there's access to academic research and expert advice."
Some Issues Around Holiday Time
Margaret Cox’s businesses ICE changed their model of working two years ago.
She says some employees concerns were worked out during the trial period:
"There were issues around how would holidays work," she says it also came up with days off.
"But as we worked through the trial and put it in place, particularly during Covid, we haven't had any issues at all."
The crowdfunding platform @kickstarter will test a four-day work week with no loss of pay next year.https://t.co/y9W3hCK081
— 4 Day Week Campaign (@4Day_Week) June 22, 2021
This Could Eventually Spread To Non-Office Jobs
Forsa Trade Union is backing the initiative.
The Union's General Secretary Kevin Callinan believes it will take time to spread to jobs not in offices:
"The trade union movement delivered the 8 hour day, the weekend."
"So now it's going to deliver the 4 day week."
Today the government announced funding to research the impact of a four day working week on the environment, employee’s wellbeing and division of labour.
