Scotland to trial 4-day working week

[MyBadHabitsLeadToYou]

With no consequential pay reduction.

I couldn’t find a thread on this. Apologies if I have missed one.

I’m not sure what to make of this. I already work a four-day week (so that my four year old isn’t in full time nursery) and it’s a nice balance. But sometimes a bit stressful because my workload is heavy so it’s one less day in which to get things done. However, soooo many people are so overworked and stressed and it would be good for mental health etc.

But I’m not entirely clear on how this will work in practice e.g small private businesses. Twitter views are very mixed. How will it benefit retail staff etc, will it only benefit the office workers…

Just wondering what the consensus is.

I don’t think it’s workable

Kids still need taught 5 days a week
Hospitals need to open7 days a week
Supermarkets need to open 7 days a week etc

Not everyone works a public sector mon fri 9/5 office job where you can just condense hours or caseloads etc into 4 days

I think this is only going to benefit people already in “ cushee “ jobs as we say in Scotland.

@MyBadHabitsLeadToYou

Oh so childcare? Rather than education?

It’s all very well saying this but there needs to be a dose of reality too.

This is reality. The current model we have is ridiculous, it’s great they’re trying something new. And I’m not an SNP fan or someone who wants independence.

Education vs childcare is an argument that’s been brewing for a long time.

@Whycangirlsbesonasty

Do you know how they get the educational hours into a 4.5 day week? They have shortened break times. There is barely any time for lunchtime play, which is so sad. But yeh, childcare. Whatever!

Bullshit. Another poster who needs to read more.

All they've said is that they plan to run "a trial" of it with some volunteer companies

The manifesto stated: “We will use the learning from this to consider a more general shift to a four-day working week as and when Scotland gains full control of employment rights.

“We will also identify additional employment opportunities and assess the economic impact of moving to a four-day week.

“More widely, we will support a review - in partnership with trade unions and businesses - of how working practices could and should be adapted to meet the needs of the future economy.”

They do not have the power to legislate for it at the moment so really this is just a soundbite for now.

Presumably they hope it would encourage people to support independence so they could legislate for it (although how that would actually work in practice remains hard to see).

Playtime is where social skills are learnt.

This is also not true. Social skills are a huge part of the curriculum for excellence.

That’s what the education department at City of Edinburgh council told me when my child started P1 and I wrote to them and asked them if it was even legal! I didn’t grow up here and was shocked. The Scottish government are banning any more councils from dropping to a half day on Friday now though - well at least they were.

Assuming it'll be condensed hours which will mainly suit people who can work from home. For cleaners, receptions, maintenance, they won't be able to work a 4 day week if a building is open 5 days. More SNP pish..

@Whycangirlsbesonasty

That’s what the education department at City of Edinburgh council told me when my child started P1 and I wrote to them and asked them if it was even legal! I didn’t grow up here and was shocked. The Scottish government are banning any more councils from dropping to a half day on Friday now though - well at least they were.

They said ‘they barely have any lunchtime play’?

@Mantlemoose

Assuming it'll be condensed hours which will mainly suit people who can work from home. For cleaners, receptions, maintenance, they won't be able to work a 4 day week if a building is open 5 days. More SNP pish..

Exactly

Iceland successfully trialed it over a period of 3-4 years with no loss of productivity.

www.bbc.com/news/business-57724779

A trial is world's away from it being implemented and offered across the board. Its just a test run to see if it is viable and how could it work in practice.

@Mantlemoose

Assuming it'll be condensed hours which will mainly suit people who can work from home. For cleaners, receptions, maintenance, they won't be able to work a 4 day week if a building is open 5 days. More SNP pish..

Why not? They won’t all have the same day off.

They said that they delivered enough hours of education by reducing the morning and lunchtime breaks. My kids demand packed lunches, even though school lunches were free. The reason was that once they had queued for school lunches and eaten it they would only get 5 mins of playing.

They do not have the power to legislate for it at the moment so really this is just a soundbite for now.

Presumably they hope it would encourage people to support independence so they could legislate for it (although how that would actually work in practice remains hard to see).

Ahh - so another Independence bid by SNP as suggested above.

I can't help feeling it could have many unintended consequences. So V nice for those whose jobs change - but pretty annoying for all those jobs need to run 24/7. So which day is to be given up - if you let any company choose any day there will be even more days when you can't get through to call centres/ banks etc.

Also a "4 day working week" doesn't necessarily a workplace open for only 4 days a week!
Eg, as things currently stand I know teachers working 3 days a week, shift workers who help cover 24/7 services, and shop workers who work 2 days a week in shops that open 7 days a week. Not that I think those jobs will be directly affected by the kind of changes discussed.
The kind of Productivity/efficiency gains you can get from switching from 5 days to 4 days are really only relevant in the kind of roles where tasks have a tendency to "stretch" to fill the time available.

Cramming 5 days work into 4. Bit like a Bank Holiday every week. Not sure this is going to turn out well.

@Whycangirlsbesonasty

They said that they delivered enough hours of education by reducing the morning and lunchtime breaks. My kids demand packed lunches, even though school lunches were free. The reason was that once they had queued for school lunches and eaten it they would only get 5 mins of playing.

So your specific kids don’t get enough lunch break because they specifically insists on packed lunches? Not ‘all kids in Edinburgh barely get enough lunchtime play’?

@RubyJam

I don’t think it’s workable

Kids still need taught 5 days a week
Hospitals need to open7 days a week
Supermarkets need to open 7 days a week etc

Not everyone works a public sector mon fri 9/5 office job where you can just condense hours or caseloads etc into 4 days

I think this is only going to benefit people already in “ cushee “ jobs as we say in Scotland.

You realise that in many workplaces like, say, a supermarket that different people work different days, so that if you have some people working 3 days a week and others 4, that adds up to 7?

It will be harder for schools as a particular example but other countries have shown that for the vast majority of jobs it's entirely workable.

They insist on packed lunches so they can skip the queuing time and actually get some playing.

@Whycangirlsbesonasty

They said that they delivered enough hours of education by reducing the morning and lunchtime breaks. My kids demand packed lunches, even though school lunches were free. The reason was that once they had queued for school lunches and eaten it they would only get 5 mins of playing.

Oh sorry, I’ve read that wrong. Your specific kids think it takes too long to queue for a school lunch, even though kids now pre-order their lunch.

What will it mean for people who work part time?

@Pumperthepumper

You’ve embarrassed yourself here. You need to read more.

Pathetic. I read plenty, thanks.

At least provide something to read if you're going to use "read more" as a retort.

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/country-and-regional-analysis-2020/country-and-regional-analysis-november-2020

@SofiaMichelle

Jesus wept.

Is there no end to what The SNP will try to do to bribe the population into voting for independence.

It's completely and utterly unaffordable. Scotland is already subsidised by England due tho the Barnett formula.

I sincerely hope they do gain independence before they sink the entire UK.

Fucksake that didn’t take long. Have a day off will you?! 🤦🏻‍♀️🙄

It won't work for every job or every individual circumstance but it will work for quite a lot of people and they should have the opportunity to do it if their employer can accommodate it.

For many years DH employer maintained that home working was impossible to accommodate in their business model, home working was not viable, home working was simply not an option. They had a forced trial of home working during the covid lockdowns and found that actually it saved them money because they didn't need to run so many office buildings with associated costs. Contracts were swiftly renegotiated and now all staff work a minimum of two days a week from home, staff can apply to do more or less via the flexible working application process - someone on DHs team applied to do all of their shifts in the office, someone else applied to do all five days at home. They now only need half the office space because staff can share workspaces depending on who is in the office and who is at home on any given day. A business model that was considered unviable only two years ago is now their ideal.