Organisational benefits do not happen by chance, and managers and owners had to adapt their leadership style and behaviours to foster a more productive environment. With the first findings of the four-day week pilot in for South Africa, it joins many countries around the world who have tested this working time innovation. While the employee benefits from the trials have been trumpeted and the number of organisations continuing with four days remains very high, there are some misconceptions.
Employees are not paid the same for doing less. The four-day week is working fewer hours on average with the principle of 100-80-100™ - employees do 100% of their work in 80% of their time and receive 100% of their pay. The traditional working week has remained rather sticky around 40 hours for almost 100 years and, in principle, this means a shift on average nearer 32 hours. The pilot in South African found a weekly average of nearer 36 hours, but around the world we find many employees do indeed work closer to 32 hours per week