Output boon in four-day work week
Women should stop negotiating on hours and start negotiating on their productivity, the head of a company trialling a four-day work week says.
Perpetual Guardian released the results of its four-day working week trial yesterday. The company claimed productivity had increased by 20 per cent, and staff members were more engaged and enthusiastic.
Managing director Andrew Barnes said for him, productivity was the key determinant of pay.
‘‘Women generally are paid less because they work fewer hours after returning to work from maternity leave, even though they might be delivering the same level of productivity as someone working five days a week,’’ he said.
He said staff members were discouraged from working overtime as the trial was supposed to reflect productivity per hour.
Workers were paid for five days but only worked four days a week throughout the eight-week trial, which was held earlier this year. The hours were rostered, and the days that workers could take off were staggered.
E tu¯ national secretary Bill Newson said the union welcomed the trial in principle, but the devil was in the detail. ‘‘The classic one is to make sure people qualify for public holidays and sick leave.’’
There was also the question of whether people were paid overtime, if they couldn’t get through all their work in four days.
Generally, though, Newson said it was good to see companies thinking flexibly.
Two Auckland academics who assessed the trial found a big jump in staff members’ perceptions of work-life balance.
Dr Helen Delaney, a senior management lecturer at the University of Auckland, found the trial increased collaboration and teamwork, with workers describing a mutual willingness to ‘‘help each other out’’.
However, some individuals reported an increased feeling of stress and pressure to complete work tasks within a shorter time frame, especially those facing a deadline or experiencing greater workloads due to timing or reduced staffing.
If the trial were to become permanent, Barnes said all employees would be given the option to work four days a week, so long as they delivered on productivity.