Scotland's political parties urged to support a four-day working week
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Scotland’s political parties are being urged to include plans for a four-day working week in their manifestos for the Holyrood election.
The national advice service Advice Direct Scotland says the move has widespread public support and has been demonstrated to improve productivity and staff morale.
The organisation, which seeks to help people find out about their rights and how to exercise them, introduced the measure for its own staff in 2018. This means employees receive the same pay but work for a day less each week.
Since then, it says absenteeism has fallen by more than 75 per cent, while service levels for those using the resource have remained the same.
Recent studies have also found people in Scotland to be in favour of the move.
A report last year revealed that 70 per cent backed a four-day week, with only eight per cent saying they opposed or strongly opposed the idea.
All parties contesting next month’s Scottish Parliament election are expected to publish their manifestos in the next fortnight.
Andrew Bartlett, chief executive of Advice Direct Scotland, said: “The four-day week has been shown to work in the places where it has been tried, and the idea has strong public support in Scotland.
“It is well established in productive and efficient economies like Norway and Denmark and looks set to be introduced in New Zealand too.
“This isn’t about businesses just giving staff a free day off each week. We know from our own experience that staff are far happier and more productive as a result of the four-day week, and that absenteeism has fallen significantly.
“There is much to be gained for businesses that adopt a four-day week. For those that can make it work, they will soon find the positives far outweigh any negatives.
“By including this in their manifestos ahead of the May vote, Scotland’s political parties can send a very strong message to businesses of all sizes about the value of this approach.”
