The Four-Day Work Week: Models, Evidence, Risks and How to Run a Pilot

The four-day work week has moved from experiment to serious option for a growing number of employers. Trials in several countries have attracted attention, and some organisations have adopted shorter weeks permanently. Others have tried and reverted. This guide explains the main models, what pilots have found, the benefits and risks, how to design and run a pilot, the legal and payroll considerations and how to measure whether it works for your organisation.

What is a four-day work week?

A four-day work week is a schedule in which employees work four days a week instead of five. In its most discussed form, total hours fall — for example from 40 to 32 — while pay stays the same, on the expectation that productivity improves enough to maintain output. Other versions compress the same hours into four longer days or reduce pay pro rata.

The idea draws on evidence that long hours do not necessarily produce more output, and that time spent in unproductive meetings, interruptions and low-value tasks can be reduced. It also responds to employees’ growing demand for flexibility and better work-life balance, themes explored in our guides to wellbeing and work-life balance and burnout prevention.

What are the main four-day week models?

The main models are reduced hours with full pay (100-80-100), compressed hours (same total hours over four days), staggered schedules where teams take different days off, annualised or seasonal reductions, and optional individual arrangements with pro-rata pay. Each has different implications for cost, coverage and wellbeing.

What have four-day week pilots found?

Several large, coordinated pilots — including trials in the United Kingdom, the United States, Ireland and other countries — reported improvements in employee wellbeing, reduced burnout and lower intentions to quit, with most participating organisations reporting that performance was maintained and many choosing to continue. Results vary by sector and design, and participating companies were self-selected.

Interpret findings carefully. Organisations that volunteer for pilots are often already well managed and motivated to succeed, so results may not generalise to every employer. Some organisations have reversed four-day weeks after finding coverage or productivity problems. The lesson is not that the four-day week always works, but that it can work where work is redesigned thoughtfully and results are measured honestly.

What are the benefits for employers?

Potential benefits include improved wellbeing and lower burnout, reduced sickness absence, better retention, a stronger employer brand and recruitment advantage, more focused working time and, in some cases, productivity gains. For employers competing for scarce talent, a four-day week can be a powerful differentiator.

These benefits connect directly to engagement and retention outcomes discussed in the Engagement & Retention guide. A four-day week can also support employer branding, though only if it is genuinely sustainable — announcing and then withdrawing a four-day week damages trust.

What are the risks and challenges?

Challenges include maintaining customer and service coverage, increased intensity of work during the four days, difficulty applying the model to shift-based or customer-facing roles, coordination across time zones and partners, potential inequity between roles that can and cannot participate, and costs if productivity does not keep pace.

Work intensification is a real risk: squeezing five days of work into four without removing anything can increase stress, undermining the purpose. Equity also matters — if office staff get a four-day week but frontline staff do not, resentment can follow. Alternative benefits, such as additional leave or shift flexibility, may help balance the picture.

How do you design a four-day week pilot?

Define objectives and success measures, choose the model and scope, redesign work processes, plan coverage, set clear rules for availability and urgent issues, agree a trial period — commonly three to six months — collect baseline data, run the pilot, evaluate results and decide whether to continue, adjust or stop.

1. Objectives: wellbeing, retention, recruitment, productivity — be explicit.
2. Measures: output and quality metrics per team, customer satisfaction, absence, engagement, turnover, hours actually worked.
3. Work redesign: cut meeting time, introduce focus time, automate tasks, clarify priorities.
4. Coverage: rotas, staggered days off, on-call rules for critical issues.
5. Communication: explain that it is a trial, how success will be judged and what happens next.
6. Evaluation: compare baseline and pilot data, gather qualitative feedback and decide.

How do payroll, holidays and contracts work under a four-day week?

Update contracts or written terms to reflect new hours, recalculate hourly rates where needed for overtime and statutory pay, adjust holiday entitlements expressed in days or hours, review how public holidays are handled, and check pension and benefit calculations. Payroll and time-tracking systems must be configured correctly before launch.

Holiday is a frequent source of confusion: if entitlement is expressed in days, a four-day worker might receive fewer days but the same proportion of time off; if expressed in hours, calculations differ. Public holidays falling on a non-working day need clear rules. Our payroll process guide explains how changes to hours flow through payroll, and the time-tracking software comparison covers tools that help record actual hours.

How does the four-day week relate to hybrid and remote work?

The four-day week and hybrid work both aim to increase flexibility, but they address different dimensions: when people work versus where. Some organisations combine them; others offer one but not the other. Return-to-office debates — covered in our articles on RTO vs hybrid in 2026 — show how sensitive employees are to changes in flexibility.

When combining models, keep rules simple and transparent, protect collaboration time when teams overlap and measure outcomes. Our guides on managing hybrid teams and remote work policies provide practical frameworks.

How should managers lead teams on a four-day week?

Managers need to set clear priorities, protect focus time, keep meetings short and purposeful, manage coverage fairly, watch for work intensification and maintain team connection with fewer shared days. Their role becomes more about removing obstacles and less about monitoring presence.

Clear weekly priorities and outcome-based goals help teams decide what to stop doing. Regular, brief check-ins replace some meetings; asynchronous updates replace status calls. Managers should ask in one-on-ones whether the workload feels sustainable and act quickly if people are working on their day off or compressing too much into four days. Fairness in rota allocation — who gets Fridays, who covers Mondays — needs transparent rules.

How do you evaluate whether the four-day week is working?

Compare the pilot period with the baseline on output and quality metrics, customer satisfaction, hours actually worked, absence, engagement, wellbeing measures, recruitment and retention indicators. Combine data with interviews and surveys of employees, managers and, where relevant, customers.

Look at teams individually. A four-day week may work well for project-based teams and less well for support functions without changes in staffing. Be willing to adapt the model per team rather than forcing one design everywhere. Present results honestly to leadership and employees, including what did not work, and decide on next steps: permanent adoption, a modified model, a longer trial or reversal. Clear communication about the decision and its reasons protects trust whichever route you take.

What are alternatives to a full four-day week?

Alternatives include compressed hours for those who want them, a nine-day fortnight, summer hours, additional annual leave, meeting-free days, flexible start and finish times, and focus-time policies. These can deliver some of the benefits with less disruption, especially where coverage requirements make a four-day week difficult.

Many organisations start with one of these steps — for example meeting-free Fridays — to build the habits of focused, efficient work that a four-day week requires. If the results are positive, moving to a reduced-hours model becomes easier. Whatever the approach, measure the effect on wellbeing, retention and output, and connect it to your broader engagement and retention strategy.

What do employees need to know before a four-day week pilot?

Employees need to understand the model, how their hours, pay and holidays will work, what output is expected, how coverage will be organised, what to do about urgent issues on days off, how success will be measured and what happens if the pilot ends. Clear, early communication prevents anxiety and rumours.

Invite employees to help design the pilot, especially the work-redesign elements. They often know best which meetings, reports and processes can go. Provide a channel for questions and concerns during the trial, and share interim results so people can see how it is going. Involvement increases commitment and helps surface problems early.

Publish a short FAQ for the pilot and update it as new questions arise, so that answers stay consistent across teams and managers. Revisit it at the midpoint review, adding the issues that emerged in practice, so that teams joining later benefit from early experience.

Is a four-day week right for every organisation?

No. It suits organisations where output can be measured, work can be redesigned and coverage can be maintained. Businesses with thin margins, strict staffing ratios or heavy customer coverage needs may find other forms of flexibility more practical. A well-run pilot is the best way to find out.

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