The award-winning Bristol-based environmental charity City to Sea has moved to a four-day working week, without any reduction in pay for staff.
The company’s 19 employees have all moved to a four-day, 32-hour working week with no reduction in pay.
The company has today been officially accredited as a ‘Gold Standard’ four-day week employer under the 4 Day Week Campaign’s accreditation scheme that recognises four-day week employers in the UK.
City to Sea is a Bristol-based environmental charity campaigning to stop plastic pollution at source known for its award-winning campaigns such as Refill, Plastic Free Periods and the recent Cut the Cutlery.
Since the Covid pandemic, the four-day working week has become more popular and is now being trialled and implemented across the world.
Numerous studies have shown that moving to a four-day week boosts productivity and workers’ well-being. When Microsoft trialled a four-day week with no loss of pay in their Japan office, productivity went up by 40%.
Last year, Atom Bank became the largest UK four-day week employer with all 430 staff moving to a four-day, 34 hour working week, with no reduction in pay.
Over 60 companies have signed up for the UK’s biggest ever four-day week pilot which begins in June. The pilot is being run by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with leading think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week Campaign and researchers at Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College.
Hetti Dysch, City to Sea’s HR Manager commented,
The ‘blaze and burn culture’ of faster, bigger, and better creates workforce burnout and fatigue. Ultimately this culture has led to climate catastrophe as profit is placed above the protection of our precious planet. At City to Sea, we’ve switched to the 4 Day week as we care about the long-term wellbeing of our team who campaign to protect our oceans from plastic pollution.
Joe Ryle, 4 Day Week Campaign Director, said:
“The four-day week with no loss of pay is a win-win scenario for both workers and employers. With the pandemic easing off and workers desperate for a better work-life balance, now is the perfect time for companies to implement a four-day week. In the wake of the great resignation, organisations should embrace the four-day week as a way of retaining staff and attracting new talent.”