Dr Rita Fontinha, Director of Flexible Working at the World of Work Institute, provides practical guidance for businesses based on real-world research and insights.

While the concept of the four-day working week has been around for many years, recent return to office mandates and DEI rollbacks have made it more of a talking point than even before. With businesses including Amazon, Boots and Santander demanding workers be more ‘present’ in the office, making a business case for the four-day working week is becoming harder.

Much of my work in recent years has focused on research into flexible working practices and in particular the four-day working week. With these studies showing the positive impact on workers – from improvements in productivity and wellbeing to increased retention and loyalty – it shouldn’t be dismissed lightly. While the idea of a four-day working week with no loss of pay and an actual reduction in hours worked is appealing to employees, many business leaders believe it is both difficult and detrimental to implement in their organisation.

But our research findings suggest that is far from the case. For example, organisations with diverse roles and a large workforce can benefit, however the challenge lies in adapting the model to different functions. Taking a flexible approach with multiple implementation formats within the same company can make it feasible to adopt successfully.

Read the four key steps to success

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