7 days ago
Huge push for four-day work week to become reality for all Aussies
A four-day work week could soon become a reality for millions of Australian workers, if one union gets its way. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) will push for the adoption of the new-age work trend when the government's productivity roundtable kicks off next week.
It will advocate for workplaces to take on the 100:80:100 model, which means workers would retain 100 per cent of their pay, with 80 per cent of their current hours, as long as they can maintain 100 per cent of their productivity and output. ACTU president Michele O'Neil said it's time to start exploring other ways of working.
'A fair go in the age of AI should be about lifting everyone's living standards instead of just boosting corporate profits and executive bonuses," she said.
RELATED
200 companies embrace four-day work week in 'long overdue' work shift
30,000 Aussie workers needed for Census jobs paying up to $60 per hour
Centrelink warning for downsizing Baby Boomers over 'special' retirement rule
Dozens of Aussie companies have already adopted the four-day work week and discovered huge positive results.
But, the concept so far has largely been confined to white collar and office-type roles.
It can be much harder to expand the approach into other sectors that depend on certain working hours, shift types, and remedy this issue, the ACTU will push for businesses that cannot adopt a four-day work week to give workers more rostered days off and annual leave days.
Regardless of which approach is taken, the union wants to ensure that pay and conditions, including penalty rates, overtime and minimum staffing levels, wouldn't be affected.
'Shorter working hours are good for both workers and employers. They deliver improved productivity and allow working people to live happier, healthier and more balanced lives," O'Neil said.
'Unions want all Australians to benefit from higher productivity – not just those with money and power."
What are the benefits of a four-day work week?
Fundraising platform Raisely jumped on this bandwagon back in 2022, and there's been a noticeable shift ever since.
Jordan Maitland, the company's chief customer officer, told Yahoo Finance they adopted the 100:80:100 model and praised artificial intelligence (AI) for helping staff reduce their workload.
'Life is busy and with AI we're able to get so much more done, which is almost at the expense of your people and you're almost getting too much done in five days that people are easily burning out,' she said.
'With all the technology and better ways of working, reward your people for that and let them have that day off and come back more energised."
To ensure staff could adhere to the shorter week, Maitland said they had to cut down on certain project work and had less time for learning and development.
But this meant they focused more on their 'core' jobs.
There was a 10.1 per cent improvement in productivity, and staff reported their work-life balance had gone up by nearly 18 per cent.
This has largely been the case for many businesses who took the 100:80:100 approach.
The ACTU pointed to a study published in Nature Human Behaviour that showed how a four-day work week "boosts performance, reduces burnout and improves employee health and retention".
That conclusion came after examining nearly 2,900 staff across 141 organisations in six countries after they took on the new-age work style.
Swinburne University also found in a separate study that productivity lifted in 70 per cent of the firms that adopted the four-day work week.
A poll of more than 2,500 Yahoo Finance readers found 90 per cent would prefer a four-day work week with the same pay.
Why is there a productivity roundtable happening?
The productivity roundtable was convened to examine how Australia could lift itself out of its current performance.
According to Treasury, productivity growth in the 2010s was the lowest in 60 years.
There are fears if this trend continued, it could have major implications for wages, living standards, and the overall resilience of the Australian economy.
Back in 2022, Treasury downgraded its long-run annual labour productivity growth assumption from 1.5 to 1.2 per cent.
While that might not sound too terrible, the 2023 Intergenerational Report revealed that a decline from 1.2 per cent to 0.9 per cent growth per year would reduce "per capita real income by more than $10,000 per person" over 40 years.
As a result, experts are convening to give the government their two cents on how to avoid this from happening in Australia.
The roundtable will focus on three areas:
Making the economy more productive
Building resilience in the face of global uncertainty
Strengthening the budget and making it more sustainableFehler beim Abrufen der Daten
Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen.
Fehler beim Abrufen der Daten
