The 4 Day Week Handbook

'The best guide to increasing your, and most other adults’, leisure time by 50%. With no serious downside'Professor Danny Dorling, University of Oxford

Rising numbers of employers worldwide are switching to a four-day week, making workers happier and organisations stronger.

Written by the director of the UK's 4 Day Week campaign, this easy-to-follow guide shows how businesses, charities, and councils can reap the benefits of introducing smarter working.

It takes anyone considering modernising their hours through the current academic evidence for the benefits of introducing a four-day week – with no loss of pay. It then explains the various steps you should take to adopt this human resources hack.

It tackles:

1. The productivity improvements that flow from more energised and focused staff
2. The typical challenges faced in running a trial, including part-time workers and bank holidays
3. The different approaches to introducing a four-day week, such as staggered and fifth-day stoppage

The 4 Day Week Handbook features case studies from the British economy, with breakouts on individual organisations. There are tips for improving the output of a business and a resources section with the essential information you need to start making progress, including a list of academics and researchers who may be able to help.

As the leader of the 4 Day Week Campaign in the UK, Joe Ryle has years of practical experience working with organisations that have adopted more flexible working.

Explaining why companies are changing, he recaps the changes to our working lives over time. At the turn of the 20th Century, workers routinely toiled for six days a week – until the Ford Motor Company invented the five-day working week, and the 'weekend'.

Now, with longer commutes and more family members employed, the five-day working week no longer works for employers or employees. Stressed-out workers stagger home on a Friday evening and take the weekend to recover, while productivity stagnates.

The 4 Day Week Handbook tracks the strong evidence that shortening working hours provides major benefits for the health and welfare of staff – and for employers. During a trial involving 2,900 workers at 61 organisations in the UK, sick days fell by...

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