Sydney-based trade printer Foxcil is trialling a four-day working week for all staff from February with each employee staying on the same salary but working one hour extra each day in exchange for having the fifth day off.
Foxcil general manager Carl Butchard says the change is expected to bring a dramatic increase in productivity among staff due to the significant mental health benefits and improved work/life balance a four day working week brings.
“At Foxcil we want to be a market leader in all aspects of what we do. A key measure for us is how we treat our staff, and what we can do to move from being a great employer to a market leading employer of choice,” Butchard said.
“We believe that there would be significant mental health benefits for our employees, and go a long way to provide an improved work/life balance. We also believe that offering a four day week option will make us an prefer employer for both retaining and recruiting staff.
“Different staff will have a different fixed day off, spreading the load across all the staff across the week, so as not to impact our overall service to our customers.”
“We are hoping that this lost time will be made up with a mix of increased productivity (one less start up and wash down per day), a reduced use and dependence on sick leave, and an overall lift in staff wellbeing.”
The idea was put to all staff, who overwhelmingly supported the concept.
The arrangement will effectively cost the company four hours work each week per employee but Foxcil managing director Roger Kirwan, an ex-Kiwi, says he’s been watching examples of this play out in New Zealand and believes it has merit. Perpetual Guardian, a financial services company based in Auckland, trialed a four-day work week that was monitored by academics.
Kirwan says the University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology academics found productivity increased by 20 per cent and staff felt less stressed and more stimulated. Work-life balance increased from 54 per cent to 78 per cent and stress levels dropped from 45 per cent to 38 per cent.
“The challenge to bring this into a quick turnaround manufacturing environment with a small number of staff are certainly there, and we are not aware of any other print or manufacturing companies that have done it – but to us, that’s no reason for us not to give it a go,” Kirwan said.
Of the 12 employees, one was happy to stay on five days due to external commitments, but we are aiming to be able to offer to least 10 roles the four day working week.
The trial commence in February and March, and is expected will run until a review at the end of the June.
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