UK Labour urged to learn from UAE's four-day working week example

British experiment reflects Emirati findings that shorter working week leads to improved employee happiness, health and productivity

General view of an office in Dubai. Ravindranath K / The National

The UAE’s experiment with a four-day working week has been highlighted at the Labour Party conference as an example of innovative thinking on work practices.

Pressure is now growing in Britain to follow the UAE’s lead by implementing a pilot scheme in the public sector, said India Burgess of The Autonomy Institute, which researches the future of work. Britain led the world’s biggest four-day week experiment in 2022 when 3,000 workers in the private sector began a 32-hour week with no loss of pay, which led to much higher levels of happiness, health and productivity.

Four-day virtues

After the 18-month experiment 85 per cent of the companies involved retained the four-day week and half had made it a permanent fixture after they realised the significant benefits to the workforce. Government offices in Sharjah were among the first to adopt the policy, also in 2022, and in August Dubai authorities announced a seven-week pilot at 15 government entities.

The Sharjah experiment found that it led to a 90 per cent increase in job satisfaction, while productivity levels were up 86 per cent and employees were much happier, according to the Department of Statistics and Community Development.

“The UAE had a public-sector pilot that we know was very successful,” Ms Burgess said at a Labour conference fringe event in Liverpool. “It is really exciting that a Gulf state is conducting this type of research, which suggests that it’s not just Europe that is at the vanguard of positive working practices.”

Four-day benefits

In the British pilot it was found that turnover of staff was reduced by 50 per cent, with one worker in the scheme saying “it has had a positive impact on you and those around you”. It also found a 35 per cent reduction in staff feeling tired and 39 per cent reduction in “burnout”.

Ms Burgess said the “macro benefits” impacted on the green economy, with more leisure hours leading people to change their consumption habits and make healthy choices rather than relying on ready meals or fast food.

Less commuting could also shrink Britain’s carbon footprint by 127 million tonnes a year according to one survey. Pressure groups are now calling for legislation to be amended to reduce the maximum working week from 48 hours to 32 hours, with no loss of pay.

Happy, healthy, productive

Fran Heathcote, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said there was now a “formal dialogue” with civil service management for a government pilot scheme.

“The benefits we know are a much happier workforce, lower sickness rates and improved productivity,” she said. The Covid-19 pandemic had permanently changed working practices, she argued, adding that a four-day working week would be “a really productive decision” in Britain, where worker productivity is low.

It would also help with gender equality, allowing more women into the workplace while putting them on a more equal footing with men in terms of career progression. The innovation could also help job creation and might help reduce the impact of the “AI wave” by reducing redundancies by an estimated 32 per cent, Ms Heathcote said.

Pilot schemes are now being introduced extensively with Britain and the UAE joined by Germany, Iceland, Spain and Portugal.

Changing working practices are likely to feature heavily in the new Labour government, with employees given more rights.

But there does appear to be some friction within the government over the benefits of working from home, another Covid legacy, with the Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds suggesting it increases productivity, but the Chancellor Rachel Reeves encouraging more people into the workplace.

Five day parents

Joe Ryle, of the “4 Day Week” Campaign, who chaired the event, said while the change will not happen overnight, within a decade it could become widespread, with many companies introducing it autonomously before any legislation is enacted.

“The younger generation don’t want to work a five-day week as they’ve seen the stress and impact that it’s had on their parents,” he said. “In Britain we have been addicted to work for a long time.”

Peter Dowd, the Labour MP who put forward a four-day week bill in the last parliament, argued that employers had aggressively opposed the five-day week, then paid holidays and flexible working all of which benefited the workforce.

“Let’s just get on with it and don’t make such a big deal about it,” he said.