Home care firm's 4-day week creates happier, more productive workforce

Fairway Homecare's introduction of a four-day week for its head office staff - without cutting their pay- has led to a happier, more productive workforce.

With almost 40 employees in its head office in Sutton Coldfield, Fairway Homecare decided to create a more flexible workplace by reducing working hours to four days a week instead of the traditional five to improve its employees’ work/life balance. As a result, the home care firm reports 100 per cent of head office staff are happier and 90 per cent are more productive at work, and a separate UK pilot is now being trialled in 30 companies.

‘They deserve it’

Alex O’Neill, operations director at Fairway Homecare said: “We hoped that by introducing a four-day week it would inspire our staff to continue to work hard and achieve incredible results, whilst also allowing them to achieve a more realistic work/life balance and it seems as though this is already working.

“The atmosphere in the office is incredible and people are talking about how much they’re valuing that extra day off a week to run errands, look after their children or loved ones and just take some time for themselves.

“Being rewarded to be successful whilst you are working, and to enjoy your life when you are not, is at the centre of our thought process. We want people to be efficient with their time, be ambitious and hungry to achieve and know that if they really work hard when in the office or on duty, the benefits of the three-day weekend will become priceless.”

The new working practice is operating on a scheduled basis that is decided between staff. The move sees each worker benefit from around six weeks less work time per year, which is ”something our staff are very excited about.”

“Our existing team has worked tirelessly through the COVID-19 pandemic and has enabled us to grow as a business, even in the most challenging of circumstances.

"Therefore, it is with their mental wellbeing, their attitude and their professionalism in mind that we are confident that this innovative change to our working practices will be a success for all and they deserve it after the last couple of years being so difficult.”

Six month UK trial of 4-day week by 30 UK firms

The company's decision comes as a separate six-month trial of a four-day working week is launched in the UK.

Over 30 companies are taking part in the trial with Oxford University and Cambridge University looking to measure whether workers can operate at 100 per cent productivity for 80 per cent of the time.

The trial begins this June and runs alongside similar pilot schemes taking place in Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Employees will not take a pay cut under the pilot, which is led by 4 Day Week Global in partnership academics, the think tank Autonomy and the 4 Day Week UK Campaign.

Charlotte Lockhart, the chief executive of 4 Day Week Global said: "The 4 Day Week is a 100:80:100 model (100 per cent productivity in 80 per cent of the time for 100 per cent pay) that explicitly does not specify which hours are to be worked or on what days of the week.

"is a flexible work model that encourages finding efficiencies in the workplace to allow workers to do more productive work in less time, thereby maintaining profitability and productivity while permitting more downtime, so people can thrive.

In he blog posted on 9 January, the chief executive said: "The great industrialists have always understood the relationship between economic stimulus, productivity and time away from work.

"Henry Ford introduced the five-day week in his business 100 years ago, as a means to give his own workers time to buy his cars. It worked, and the developed world followed suit, shrinking the standard six-day week."

Another boost for workers came as Fairway Homecare raised its care workers’ pay last November, before the government’s mandatory minimum wage increase comes into effect this April.

To attract workers, Fairway already paid its workers three per cent more than the national minimum wage.

It has now increased pay for staff by 7.5 per cent (a rise from £9.05 to £9.75 an hour for national living wage). 18-20 year olds’ pay has also gone up 18 per cent from £6.56 to £7.75 and 21-22 year olds’ will be paid £9.35 (up 11 per cent) instead of £8.36 an hour.

The home care firm covers 5,500 home care hours a week in the West Midlands.

Fairway Homecare has almost 300 care workers and the latest pay rise means the average starting salary will be £20,280 per annum, based on a 40-hour work week.