Aussies to get four day working week trial

Multiple organisations across a range of industries are gearing up to give Australian workers a four-day working week for six months with no cut to pay.

20 organisations have already registered to take part in the four-day work week movement from across a spread of industries including finance, retail, health, technology and construction.

They will trial a shorter work week for six months from August as part of a global pilot involving 70 organisations in the UK and 38 in North America that is being run by New Zealand not-for-profit advocacy group 4 Day Week Global.

Employees will be able to retain 100 per cent of their pay while reducing their work hours to 80 per cent, provided they commit to maintaining 100 per cent productivity – known as a 100:80:100 model.

The six-month trial will run from August and is being heralded by experts as a step in the right direction, which will give employees more down time and opportunity to recover.

Mortgage brokerage More Than Mortgages, social enterprise Our Community, marketing agency The Walk and mental health organization Momentum Mental Health are some of the organizations participating in the Australasian trial.

The trial will follow similar efforts in other countries, including Iceland, New Zealand, Scotland and the United States, where companies have embraced greater flexibility in working hours as more people worked remotely and adjusted their schedules during the pandemic.

Thousands of workers in Britain started the first day of a four-day work week on Monday as part of the pilot program in the largest trial of its kind.