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    Massachusetts lawmakers file bill to create 4-day workweek pilot

    Following an identical program in Europe, two Massachusetts lawmakers have filed a invoice this week to create a two-year pilot program for a four-day workweek.Rep. Dylan Fernandes of Falmouth and Rep. Josh Cutler of Duxbury filed the invoice that may create a voluntary program permitting collaborating companies to transition some or all of their workers to a four-day week with out lack of pay or advantages. The pilot program would run for 2 years and could be overseen by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. To take part, employers should conform to transition not less than 15 staff to a shortened workweek.While the invoice was simply filed this week, quite a lot of companies have already reached out to ask how they’ll take part, in keeping with Cutler.“I think this is really the perfect time for this kind of pilot program, given the changes we’ve seen in hybrid work as a result of the pandemic and the need to look for creative solutions to our current labor market challenges,” Cutler mentioned in an e-mail response to Computerworld. If the laws passes, employers who take part within the pilot would agree to scale back the hours of all or a few of their workers with out lowering general pay, standing, or advantages. Businesses will even be eligible for a tax credit score for his or her participation within the examine and essential information assortment, Cutler mentioned. While the pilot program is designed to run for 2 years, particular person companies should not required to take part your complete time. The proposal is aimed toward discovering the feasibility and advantages of a four-day work week.“We chose this amount of time because we wanted to ensure a robust response and data availability. I have seen a variety of different lengths. In Maryland, there is a bill proposing a five-year pilot, for example. In this case, we felt two years struck a good balance,” Cutler mentioned. (The Maryland proposal was withdrawn earlier this 12 months.) The Massachusetts laws doesn’t name for collaborating organizations to undertake a strict 32-hour work week; as a substitute, it states workers should obtain “a meaningful reduction in actual work hours.”Transitioning from the standard five-day, 40-hour work week to a four-day week has the potential to scale back burnout and increase efficiency amongst staff with out negatively affecting employer productiveness, in keeping with Cutler. “They could also bring a competitive edge for employers who are able to attract and retain talent,” he mentioned.Gartner is seeing “a high amount of interest” in four-day workweeks from its purchasers, in keeping with Emily Rose McRae, a senior director with the analysis agency’s HR observe.“Many organizations, and their HR leaders, see a four-day workweek as the next step in their flexibility offerings for employees — offering flexibility on when and how much people work, in addition to where,” she mentioned. “For organizations that haven’t been able to successfully implement remote or hybrid work, or that fundamentally can’t for at least part of their workforce, a four-day workweek offers an opportunity to remain competitive in a still very tight talent market by offering a different kind of flexibility.” In normal, four-day work week pilots have proven that productiveness will increase with diminished hours, so lowering pay is probably not essential — however it’s an possibility for organizations which have regulatory or authorized limits on lowering hours with out lowering pay, McRae mentioned.In February, the world’s largest trial of a four-day workweek accomplished its run, and 92% of the UK-based firms that participated mentioned they plan to proceed with the truncated work schedule as a result of the advantages are so clear.Several US states have thought of trials, primarily to know how a shorter week can perform, given the specifics of state economies, labor legal guidelines, laws, and different points, in keeping with Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, international packages director for the nonprofit group 4 Day Week Global.“It’s one thing to hear about companies in the Nordic region doing it; it’s another to know that companies in Northampton [Mass.] are doing it,” Pang mentioned. According to Pang, the Massachusetts proposal is totally different than others in that it requires a 15-worker minimal, targets a extra assorted set of firms than previous research, proposes tax breaks for contributors, and is 2 years lengthy.“Given the long life of government policies versus business strategies, [two years] makes some sense,” Pang mentioned. “You want to understand broader economic impacts, which might need some time to become apparent. There’s plenty we have yet to understand about how different kinds of rewards might incentivize companies to adopt long-term changes.”The UK pilot program was performed by the nonprofit 4 Day Week Global, the UK’s 4 Day Week Campaign and Autonomy, a suppose tank. It guided the businesses and their staff by a six-month take a look at of a 32-hour, four-day week, with no lack of pay for workers. Including a earlier examine of firms in US and Ireland, a complete of 91 firms with about 3,500 staff accomplished pilot packages of a shorter work week.The examine of 61 UK-based firms and about 3,000 workers delivered outcomes which might be largely according to present proof from different research, “further demonstrating the benefits of reduced-hour, output-focused working,” the examine concluded.Of the 61 UK firms that participated within the trial, 56 indicated they may proceed with the four-day week. Two have determined to increase their trials, and three have determined to pause their four-day week for now.Other findings from the UK examine included:
    71% of workers had diminished ranges of burnout by the top of the trial.
    39% had been much less burdened.
    43% felt an enchancment in psychological well being.
    54% mentioned they felt a discount in unfavourable feelings.
    37% of workers noticed enhancements in bodily well being.
    46% reported a discount in fatigue.
    40% noticed a discount in sleep difficulties.
    While each women and men profit from the UK’s four-day week, girls’s expertise is usually higher, the examine mentioned.“This is the case for burnout, life and job satisfaction, mental health, and reduced commuting time,” Dale Whelehan, Ph.D., a behavioral scientist and CEO of 4 Day Week Global, said in an earlier interview. “Encouragingly, the burden of non-work duties appears to be balancing out, with more men taking on a greater share of housework and childcare.”The number of people quitting companies during the study decreased significantly, dropping by 57% during the trial. Additionally, 15% of employees in participating companies indicated that no amount of money would induce them now to accept a five-day workweek over a four-day one.Cutler said he doesn’t expect employers who would participate in the proposed Massachusetts pilot would see a loss in productivity, “but it’s certainly possible in some industries. We won’t know unless we study the issue more thoroughly,” he mentioned. According to a 2022 international survey of 3,600 workers by Gartner, a four-day workweek seems to be the preferred attractor amongst “new and innovative benefits to recruit talent.” Additionally, 63% of candidates chosen “4-day work week for the same pay” as one of many high 5 advantages that may appeal to them to a job (this quantity jumps to 74% for respondents within the US), in keeping with Gartner.Last fall, a survey of 3,500 workers within the US and three different nations revealed staff need their productiveness measured by the outcomes they obtain, not by what number of hours they log through the workweek. The survey of US, UK, Australian, and Canadian staff discovered that 58% wish to remove the 40-hour workweek, and almost half (47%) consider the perfect versatile work possibility could be a four-day workweek. More than one in 4 respondents (28%) additionally mentioned their employer already presents a four-day workweek possibility.The examine by software program and providers supplier Adaptavist additionally discovered that whereas workers need extra selection and management over their work lives, hybrid and distant work comes at a value within the type of isolation, loneliness, and elevated workloads.“Critics like to claim that the four-day week won’t work because it’s a ‘one size fits all’ solution,” Pang mentioned. “[But] the companies that actually do it don’t even implement one solution across all their departments.”For instance, Pang defined, company gross sales and advertising and marketing groups could have some workers work Monday by Thursday and others work Tuesday by Friday, whereas different components of the corporate could possibly be closed on Fridays. “Ditto for part-time workers; it depends on whether they’re hourly or salaried, are working only for you or have other clients, etc.,” he mentioned.Gartner’s McRae mentioned organizations don’t should mandate a four-day workweek for his or her workers, however they’ll nonetheless supply one. “In fact,” she mentioned, “we’re seeing a lot of organizations who want to add a four-day workweek to their flexibility offerings, but they aren’t mandating that all employees take the four-day workweek.”

    Copyright © 2023 IDG Communications, Inc.

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