Radioactive PR
Gloucester
PR firm’s shift to four-day week has proved highly popular with staff – and the company has grown.
Radioactive PR profiled on BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat.
Radioactive PR introduced a four-day week in 2018, with employees working Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5.30pm, without loss of pay.
After one year of the new arrangement, the Gloucester PR firm reported that turnover had increased and profitability was stable, while job applications had soared and sick days had halved.
Staff were asked what the additional day had meant for them. Responses included:
- ‘I have registered with a charity to volunteer my time to go make tea and spend time with older people’
- ‘It’s helped me because I’ve had more time to finish my Masters degree’
- ‘We wouldn’t have been able to get a new puppy! Settling him into the new house would have been much harder, and also, we’d have had to spend out on a dog walker’
- ‘I’ve been able to spend more quality time with my wife, just us – a rarity when you have two exuberant school-age kids!’
Tags Shorter working week
New rules needed
Policies that can help unleash the potential of this or similar initiatives across the UK.
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Boost the power of trade unions
Stronger unions will counter the UK's low pay, low productivity economy. -
Replace GDP with better measures of national success
Better headline indicators – that reflect the things we really want – are essential for better policymaking. -
Increase statutory paid leave
If pay is protected, increased leisure time for workers will boost demand and life satisfaction. -
Prototype shorter working hours in the public sector
Run shorter working week trials in the public sector as experiments to improve wellbeing and productivity.
