Four-day working week update

Following the Government announcement the BBC got in touch with us for an update on our four day week.

The four-day working week has been under the spotlight recently, with the government considering legislation that would require employers to offer flexible working hours including the option of a four-day working week, to all employees.

Under the proposed plans, workers would still be expected to work their contracted hours, but they would have the option to compress those hours into four days rather than five.

It’s expected that this move will be introduced in Parliament in autumn following consultations with unions and businesses.

Belmont Packaging introduced the four-day working week in June 2019, primarily to offer the Belmont Packaging and Boxed-Up team a better work/life balance whilst increasing productivity at the same time.

Following discussions and debate around the government led four-day working week initiative, the BBC came to Belmont Packaging for an update on the 4-day working week. Evan Davies spoke to Kate Hulley to discuss the success that Belmont Packaging has enjoyed as a result of switching to the four-day working week. You can listen to their chat below.

A BBC film crew also visited our factory and interviewed Stacey Galloway to find more about her experience of the four-day working week.

So, what does the four-day working week mean for Belmont Packaging?

The four-day week works as follows across the business:

Our factory team work compressed hours Monday to Thursday.

The office-based team work compressed hours across either Monday to Thursday or Tuesday to Friday. This keeps the office running across five days whilst maintaining the four-day working week for the team.

The main benefits of the four-day week are as follows:

- Increased productivity. The condensed working week reduces distractions and keeps the team and the production side of the business focused, which brings great benefits for the business and the individual.

- The compressed week incentivises the team to complete the production plan within the four days as efficiently as possible and then benefit from the longer weekend.

- It’s a people focused system that brings benefits to the business such as less burnout and happier, motivated and energised teams.

- Fridays are then kept clear for engineering teams to come to site and work on the equipment where necessary.

Ultimately, the four-day working week has been a huge success for the Belmont Packaging team. Kate Hulley concludes, “The team love it and really value it. The four-day working week is people centric and ultimately the team are at the heart of the level of success that a business enjoys.

For me and the team, the benefits of this system far outweigh the disadvantages. The business benefits from an energised team who value the four-day working week and on the back of that productivity has increased.

More businesses should embrace this way of working because it is the future of a happy and successful team.”