29 local firms join roll-out of 4-day work week scheme

THE deadline for South African businesses to sign up for the roll-out of the four-day work week has closed with 29 businesses due to begin their reduced working week on March 1 for the next six months.

Companies participating include social housing giant Communicare and Tax Ladies.

These employees will receive 100 percent of the pay for 80 percent of the time in exchange for delivering 100 percent of the output.

Director of 4 Day Week SA, Karen Lowe, said there would be a four-week intensive programme to get participants ready.

She said the trial would be guided by experts at the global entity conducting trials around the world – 4 Day Week Global.

The trial was underpinned by research conducted by Boston College and Stellenbosch Business School, which would be further conducted during and after the trial.

Lowe said: “To have 29 companies joining South Africa’s first-ever pilot of the four-day week is testament to the forward thinking of business in this country.

“Pilot participants are embracing the idea that it’s time to change the nearly 100-year-old convention of a 5-day week. Reduced work hours are a central tenet to the future of work, and they are willing to give it a try.”

Participating in the trial are 28 South African businesses and one business from Botswana. This includes, among others, Stellenbosch University’s fitness gymnasium, Maties Gymnasium, IT sales and support company Marais Software Solution, marketing agency 2Stories.

Communicare COO Makhosi Kubheka said: “To enhance our employee value proposition, we believe that implementing the 4-day work week could have a further positive impact on mental wellness as it will provide our people with some valuable extra time to spend with their loved ones, and ultimately contribute to a more positive experience for our customers.”

Another participating business is Tax Ladies. Master tax practitioner Jennifer Lopes said they were mothers who worked from home and ran their families while they earned a living.

Kubheka said: “We have chosen to put family first, and have adapted our working hours accordingly. The 4-Day

Week approach allows us to have mornings and afternoons for family, and fit our work day right in with the school day. We do not live to work full days, we work to live full lives.”

Results from trials in Ireland, the US and Australia, which were released in November last year, showed improvements in company performance, productivity and revenue.

Lowe said: “70 percent of participants said they would require between 10 percent and 50 percent more pay to go back to a 5-day schedule. Thirteen percent said they would require more than 50 percent. And 13 percent said no amount of money could convince them to give up the four-day week.”

She said recruitment was already under way for South Africa’s second four-day week pilot, which was due to start in May.