The Four-Day Working Week at Happy

Productivity summer

The four-day week started with a Productivity Summer, with a four-day week during the summer months. We first did this in August 2019 with a four-day week for just one month (giving an extra three days of annual leave, pro-rata).

In September, we voted on how everyone thought it went. The verdict was that 94% enjoyed the extra time off, and 53% said they got as much done in four days, though 31% felt it made them more stressed. However, 44% of staff said they'd like to do it again and 44% wanted to make it two months.

In 2020, the senior leadership team extended the Productivity Summer to seven weeks including the bank holiday, giving everyone an additional six days of annual leave, pro-rata. Productivity Summer continued in 2021.

Making the four-day week permanent

With Productivity Summer giving staff a taster of what a four-day week could look like, Happy's people voted to make this a permanent change. The vote was 16-1 to go for a permanent four-day week, as long as the initial six months were successful. Happy joined the national 4 Day Week trial from June 2022, alongside over 60 other UK organisations in the pilot.

This was a huge success — and in December 2022, our people voted to make this permanent. The results of the survey that informed the decision to go permanent showed:

• 77% of staff were sticking to the 32-hour week, with 23% working only one or two hours over
• Everybody says they are getting as much done as they did before
• Everybody says their wellbeing is better

The main requirement of the change to the four-day week was that it would not impact on the service our clients received. In fact, Happy had 10% growth in sales in 2022, with no increase in staff.

How did we ensure the four-day week was a success?

All of our people agreed to new principles, set by an Action Group (a small group of staff who expressed an interest in making the 4 day week a success, including the Managing Director). 

This included agreeing to improve our productivity, such as reducing the length of meetings, being more focused and cutting out distractions.

All of our people were offered training and support, such as an internal Five Day Productivity Blitz training course.

Rather than all taking the same day off, teams decide internally which days they will work. This ensures cover for our clients. The only requirement is that people must work on Tuesdays.