Oxford councillor calls for four day working week trial

Emily Kerr, an Oxford City councillor, put forward a motion last week which called for the council to review trialling a four-day working week.

Ms Kerr put forward the ‘Four Day Week’ motion as she believes there is “robust data and experiences” which suggest piloting the idea would be a “really good thing”.

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Speaking to the Oxford Mail, Ms Kerr said the motion was a “step on the pathway” to trialling the concept in the future.

Ms Kerr said: “I would like to see a four day working week trialled.

“I think it is important to do a pilot before rolling it out.

“There is enough evidence to suggest it would be a good thing to pilot.”

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A four-day working week has been trialled already by companies across the UK.

From June to December 2022, a six-month pilot of the four day working week took place across the UK and 61 organisations with nearly 3,000 workers trialled the introduction of reduced working hours, whilst maintaining 100 per cent of pay.

The trial also found 39 per cent of workers were less stressed and 71 per cent had lower levels of burnout.

Out of these 61 organisations, 92 per cent of the organisations have implemented the four day working week beyond the pilot period.

Ms Kerr said the pandemic had been a “catalyst for the four-day working week” and highlighted working parents find working in the office five days a week “particularly difficult”.

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She explained: “It is very difficult to work five days in an office and manage logistics for home as well.

“The pandemic has made people realise that it is helpful to have some ability to work from home.

Ms Kerr said four day working weeks led to “more efficiency” and encourage people to “take a full day off”.

The ‘Four Day Week’ motion, which was passed amended by the council, has requested that the leader of the council “finds out if there are any other employers in Oxford considering trialling a four day week for their employers”.

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Ms Kerr said she is looking forward to reaching out to companies in Oxford which have started to trial the four day working week and highlighted there was the “potential to innovate in sectors which you could think are traditionally constrained”.

She added: “As a council in Oxfordshire we have the research.

“We should be trialling ideas which are backed up with evidence and working with the University of Oxford.”