Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
In recent weeks, you may have heard the four-day week debate bubbling up again, especially now that Covid-19 has changed the way that a lot of us work.
Though it doesn’t have any focused government support, businesses across the UK have trialled and implemented the four-day week. The Scottish National Party (SNP) has pledged that if they get re-elected, they’ll create a £10m fund for small businesses so that they can trial a four-day working week.
>See also: Scotland election manifestos 2021 – what’s in them for small businesses?
It’s not just in the UK, either. Spain is seriously considering the four-day working week. It has proposed a ‘modest’ pilot project for companies. Details will be hashed out in the coming weeks, but the pilot could begin as early as the autumn. The Más País party hopes that the trial will emulate the results of Software Desol, the first firm in the country to implement a four-day working week. In fact, it’d be the first nationwide trial anywhere in the world.
According to Be the Business’ second productivity index, more than half of businesses are either implementing or open to operating a four-day week. One in 20

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