Is a four-day working week too good to be true?

The traditional Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 no longer suits the reality of modern life, according to the 4 Day Week Foundation.

The not-for-profit organisation is campaigning for a 32-hour working week in the UK, with no loss of pay or benefits for employees.

Oxfordshire-based HR consultant Jonna Mundy said adopting a shorter working week three years ago has made her small team more effective and was good for recruitment and retention.

But the Henley Business School said while evidence showed a four-day week was good for staff and productivity, it may not work for all industries.

Mundy and her team of consultants at You HR Consultancy in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, made the switch in 2023.

She said she has never been happier, adding: "Monday is generally the day that I take off. I do pilates, get to see friends and family, making sure that I have time to myself."

Furthermore, her staff are now more focused and achieve more in four days than they used to in five, said Mundy.

"It's a great staff attraction, a great benefit from a recruitment and retention perspective," she said.

"There's a lot more willingness from a team perspective to really achieve because everyone's grateful for getting that extra day off a week."

The 4 Day Week Foundation said more than 250 organisations in the UK have moved to a pattern where staff work an eight-hour day, four days a week.

While more companies are signing up to the idea every year, the Henley Business School said progress has been slow.

A major concern often cited by employers is that productivity will drop off when going down the four-day route and what that will mean for their bottom line.

Dr Melissa Carr, from the Henley Business School, said those fears were misplaced.

Carr said evidence from organisations that have made the switch show "an increase in productivity".

"You have less stress and burnout and you have a greater sense of well-being," she said. "People can balance their work life balance much better."

But moving to a four-day week would not work for everyone, said Carr, particularly those in the retail and hospitality sectors.

Another business that has said it could struggle is in the care sector.

Fidelma Tinneny runs several nursing homes in and around Ascot and heads up the Berkshire Care Association.

She said it was becoming harder to get hold of doctors and psychiatrists in emergencies as many now work four or three-day weeks.

That could be traumatic for both staff and those they look after when a resident is delirious, stressed and in urgent need of medication, said Tinneny.

"If we haven't got access to someone who can change somebody's medication, for example, and nobody else will change it, it can cause us difficulties.

"If it's, say, a consultant psychiatrist, that means they [nursing home residents] may end up in hospital when that could have been avoided if they'd [a psychiatrist] been there."

The 4 Day Week Foundation said more than 90% of companies that have made the switch have stuck with it.

While progress was slow, the Henley Business School said momentum was building.

But then it has only been about a 100 years since we moved from a standard six-day to five-day working week.

Who knows where we might be a few decades from now.