UK workers to gain rights to four-day week and new ‘compressed working hours’ system

This means that if employees want to complete their working week between Monday and Thursday and have Friday off, they will have more power to get their boss to agree.

The Conservatives warned that such an approach undermined Labour’s promise to prioritise economic growth and would leave businesses “panicking”.

Conservative shadow business secretary Kevin Hollinlake said: “Despite repeated warnings from industry, Angela Rayner is insisting on pushing forward French-style trade union laws which will make it more expensive to do business in the UK.

“Labor must listen to businesses that are horrified by the prospect of first day employment rights and the introduction of a four-day week through the back door. If they don’t listen, businesses and consumers will pay the price and economic growth will suffer.”

Decreased productivity

Critics of the practice warn that flexible working practices, such as allowing people to work from home more easily, can lead to a drop in productivity.

But a Labour source close to the plans rejected the criticism, pointing out that the Conservatives vowed in their 2019 election manifesto to make flexible working the “default” and citing research showing it boosts productivity.

A Labour source said: “The Conservatives promised to make flexible working the default but failed to do so. We will build on existing legislation to ensure flexible working is the true default unless the employer cannot reasonably agree to it.

“Flexible working options such as compressed hours and term time working can help more people stay in the workforce and be more productive, whether that’s allowing parents to continue working or helping those with caring responsibilities for older relatives.”

The rights-at-work package, called Labour’s Make Work Pay Plan, has been the subject of discussion within the Labour Party and debate with unions for years.

Now that they are in power, ministers plan to deliver on their promise to submit draft legislation to amend the Act to Parliament within 100 days of the election, which would be mid-October.

Exactly how the new approach will work in practice is legally unclear.

Much of the public debate has focused on hybrid work arrangements, which would allow people to work from home and give employees the right to respond to emails after hours. telegraph It is understood that “compressed working hours” will also be part of the plan.

This might mean that a worker decides to start early and work later four days a week so that the fifth day is free.

Labour sources stressed that this was slightly different to the four-day work week that people generally understand, with a person typically completing 80% of a week’s work.

Whether businesses will be able to refuse such requests will depend on the specific wording of legislation proposed by Labor this autumn.

Its final pre-election plan, published in May, set out recommendations for companies to offer first-day flexible working, which apply “except where it is not reasonably practicable”, but this must be translated into appropriate legal wording.

The overall design of the scheme is to shift the burden from companies being able to opt in to flexible working to companies having to opt out for specific reasons.

Government figures supporting the move believe it is targeted not only at office workers from Monday to Friday but also at shift workers. They also believe the reform can help new parents return to work and allow them to minimize childcare costs.

Rayner and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds are working together on the new law, which is expected to be published in mid-October, with parts of it to be put to consultation afterwards.