Company locks in four-day week
Perpetual Guardian turns experiment into firm policy as productivity stays up and job satisfaction soars
New Zealand trusts business Perpetual Guardian has signed off on the four-day week, turning an experiment into company policy. Perpetual Guardian founder Andrew Barnes first introduced the reduced workweek in March to see what impact, if any, it would have on productivity levels at the business.
This initial test was a success, with independent academic research showing productivity levels remaining intact and job satisfaction improving markedly among staff members.
As was the case with the trial, employees who opt into the four-day week will be eligible for a weekly rest day provided they meet their weekly productivity objectives and will be paid their usual salary.
The new policy comes into effect on November 1. The 240-strong firm sought legal opinions from Belly Gully and MinterEllisonRuddWatts, who recommended a framework that would ensure the company remained compliant with New Zealand law.
“We actually have to get people to opt into the policy. This will be done on an annual basis, and it has to be done individually; it cannot be done collectively,” Barnes told the Herald.
“At the same time, when they opt in, they have to acknowledge that their working hours remain the normal nine-to-five working hours. They have to acknowledge that these rest days are a gift. They need to be cognizant that there might need to be some flexibility around those rest days.”
The complexity arises, according to Barnes, because employment laws are still drafted in the language of “hours worked” rather than “productivity”.
It was one of the reasons why New Zealand had low productivity.
Barnes’ approach to work has already started an enormous international debate, spread across 32 countries and featuring in the BBC, CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian, the World Economic Forum and others.
“I would’ve been happy with a short article in the Herald,” said Barnes.
He’d like to see the initiative provoke changes to employment law to ensure that flexible arrangements such as the four-day week can be implemented without the risk of workers relinquishing their rights.
“I do not wish to see other employers use the four-day-week strategy as a method to reduce working weeks and reduce pay. But to change this, we need to have employment legislation that is flexible enough to focus on agreed productivity.”
Barnes took aim at the gig economy (particularly companies like Uber), which he accuses of offering false flexibility.
“With the gig economy, there’s no holiday pay, no sick leave, no
Lcontracts, no contribution to superannuation. There’s no protection.
“Governments are complicit. They pretend that Uber isn’t a taxi company. They pretend that Airbnb isn’t a hotel company. And these companies play by different rules. “There is a failure to address this. “If you do a gig economy, it should cover a payment that goes into superannuation,” he said.
“It should cover a payment that goes into a separate account for that individual for sick pay. It should include a payment that goes into that individual’s account for holiday pay.”
Barnes said he had already been approached by international Governments to discuss how his policies could be employed more broadly but has not heard anything from the local leadership.
“Organs of the British Government and Australian Governments have reached out, but I have not had one phone call from Wellington.”