Mythbusting the The Four-Day Work Week

The challenge

For many, the four-day work week is seen as easy to implement – a long weekend every weekend, what could there possibly be to complain about? Exploring this future work scenario, this research aims to uncover whether the four-day work week improves employee wellbeing and delivers business outcomes (and whether these benefits are equitable).

This project emerged from Unilever New Zealand (as part of Unilever ANZ) as they looked to fundamentally change how employees work: focusing on outcomes and productivity as opposed to time in the office. A trial of the 100-80-100 four-day work week was implemented – a model specifying that 100% of work is completed in 80% of the time, whilst maintaining 100% pay. This model is opposed to the traditional compressed four-day work week: that is working the same number of hours in less days.

Solution

In 2021 UTS was engaged by Unilever NZ as an independent partner to assess their four-day work week trial. In consultation with Unilever, the UTS team developed a rigorous mixed methodology research design – implemented in three phases. Over the 18-month trial this included three online surveys of all employees (n=78) and 57 in-depth semi-structured interviews. To ensure the integrity and autonomy of the research process, Unilever's participation was carefully curated, involving periodic check-ins after each phase of the research.

Outcome and impact

For Unilever NZ, the four-day work week trail achieved strong business results – exceeding all business key performance indicators (including sales, market share, profit and overheads). Absenteeism was also significantly reduced, turnover was stable, and all other employee outcome metrics were stable or showed directional improvement. This success can be largely attributed to management support and the willingness of all staff members to strive to work differently and change ways of working.

Implementation of the four-day work week was far from offering everyone a long weekend, with Unilever NZ employees opting to take the time out at different points throughout the week or when they could. Key challenges which impacted one’s ability to take a four-day week included differences by role type, managing workload spikes and stakeholders. The research also showed that scheduling of time out was an important factor.

Ultimately, the four-day work week has the potential for far reaching positive social impact: from increased female participation in the workforce and greater equity in caring responsibilities – to enhanced community connections and positive steps towards breaking down flexibility bias.