Thousands of public servants could be moving to a four-day work-week, as the ACT government responds to calls from a parliamentary committee to reduce workloads.
The ACT government agreed earlier this month to set up a working group in 2024 to create a road map for future trials.
It said it was “mindful of the clear benefits a four-day working week would provide” but noted that it “poses challenges”.
“Whilst productivity may increase, it may not increase sufficiently or with enough longevity to fund the model in the longer term,” it said.
“Further, staffing in many frontline areas will most likely have to increase to ensure adequate roster cover and ensure service delivery is maintained.”
The working group will explore future trials and the public service areas that would participate, including administrative and frontline business units, and employees working in both full-time and non-full-time roles.
A working group will also determine the best way to engage with the private sector and offer them the opportunity to voluntarily participate in a trial, as well as the support structures that would be required to do so, the ACT government said.
As businesses across Australia and the world trial their versions of the four-day work-week, the committee recommended the ACT government trial a similar model to the one employed in the UK.
Employees, unions and other representatives are set to be involved in the upcoming consultations regarding trials.
The ACT working group will look at a reduction model for future trials, which means that there is no loss of pay or conditions for reduced working hours.
The committee distinguished the difference between “work time compression” and “work time reduction” in its discussion paper.
The compression model would alternatively work to squish the same amount of working hours into fewer days, which the committee’s discussion paper said “is not beneficial for workers in general and for women in particular”.
Productivity often takes centre stage in the discussion of a reduced work week, but the committee also discussed health throughout history in the workplace.
It highlighted the work week that once existed in Europe, with working conditions that often resulted in injury and death, and referred to the proposed changes as social progress.
“In the 19th century, the number of hours in a standard working week was, in some cases, more than double that of the 38-hour week set by the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Commission in 1983 that applies in Australia today,” the committee’s discussion paper said.
(7 NEWS)
