A four-day workweek might help with an employee’s well-being, according to a study that trialled the intervention in organisations across the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
Researchers from Boston College in the US and University College Dublin in Ireland found that workers reported an improved well-being with lower levels of burnout, a better job satisfaction and physical and mental health — this was not seen among employees of 12 organisations where a reduced workweek was not trialled.
For the study, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, nearly 2,900 employees across 141 organisations in the six high-income countries worked four days a week for six months without a pay reduction.
To maintain productivity, workplaces were re-organised with efficiency and collaboration improvements prior to start of the trial.
The authors wrote, “Analysis of pre- and post-trial data from 2,896 employees across 141 organisations in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the USA shows improvements in burnout, job satisfaction, mental health and physical health — a pattern not observed in 12 control companies.”
The improved well-being was attributed to three factors — an enhanced perception of one’s own work ability, reduced sleep problems and lower levels of fatigue.
“The results indicate that income-preserving four-day workweeks are an effective organisational intervention for enhancing workers’ well-being,” the team said.
Countries around the world have been experimenting with interventions, such as a shorter workweek or reduced working hours in a week, to improve work-life balance and boost productivity.
However, a country’s labour laws and economic conditions, along with how work and leisure is culturally perceived are other factors influencing a potential shift away from traditional work routines.
France legally mandated a 35-hour workweek in the early 2000s, while Bhutan is said to be amongst the countries with the most working hours per week — over 50.
The researchers cited a large body of research looking at the link between long hours spent working and employees’ psychological and mental well being — results point to higher rates of diabetes, heart disease and chronic pain conditions.
The team also said that however, most of the studies are observational and short-term, making it difficult to assess the link between working hours and well being.
Further, workplace interventions in the studies have largely looked at individual-level measures and rarely targeted organisation-level work hours, the team said.
The authors acknowledged the study’s limitations that it was not a randomised trial — considered the gold standard in experiments to establish cause-and-effect relationships — and that the participants were all from high-income countries.
“Many organisations (in the study) are small, which restricts our ability to generalise,” the authors said.
Evidence from this study, nevertheless, adds strength to the link between hours spent working and well-being of employees, they said.