Thousands of workers will be given four-day working week under Labour

One thousand UK workers are set to join the first four-day week trial under the Labour Party government. One thousand workers in the UK will get extra time off with no loss of pay in the first official pilot by the four-day week campaign.

The scheme will aim to present the findings from the latest pilot to the Labour government in the summer. The trial will involve 17 businesses, who will mostly implement the four-day week, with four more set to join at a latter datem, according to reports.

Some have opted to test a shorter working week or a nine-day fortnight, in which workers get an extra day off every two weeks. It comes after deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, said last year: “If you can deliver within a four-day working week, then why not?”

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Georgia Pearson, the people manager at Crate Brewery, which serves craft beer on the bank of Hackney’s Lee Navigation, said the trial “feels somewhat groundbreaking”. “For operational teams, physically demanding service shifts can mean that off days are spent recuperating, rather than enjoying personal time off,” Pearson said.

“Although we’ve never struggled with retention, we recognise the competitive advantage that comes with being ahead of the curve with a four-day week, and we hope it will aid recruitment particularly in support office roles.”

Joe Ryle, the director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, said: “We don’t have to just imagine a four-day week any more, because it’s already a reality for hundreds of businesses and tens of thousands of workers in the UK.

“We look forward to presenting the results of this latest trial to the new Labour government next summer.” Claire Campbell, chief executive of Timewise, said it wanted to see more “site-based, shift-based workers sign up because this is where innovation is needed most”.

She added that she hoped the change “will benefit worker health and retention”.