News / city to sea
Bristol-based environmental company introduces four-day week
City to Sea is switching to a four-day working week in a move designed to protect the long-term wellbeing of staff and boost productivity.
The 19 employees at the environmental social enterprise based in Redbrick House in St Paul’s will work 32 hours per week with no reduction in pay.
There are now some 60 companies, with more than 3,000 workers, across Britain signed up to trial a four-day working week from June in what is thought to be the biggest pilot scheme to take place anywhere in the world.
The pilot is being run by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week campaign and researchers at Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College.
Speaking about the decision, Hetti Dysch, City to Sea’s HR manager said: “The ‘blaze and burn culture’ of faster, bigger, and better creates workforce burnout and fatigue.
“Ultimately, this culture has led to climate catastrophe as profit is placed above the protection of our precious planet. At City to Sea, we’ve switched to the four-day week as we care about the long-term wellbeing of our team who campaign to protect our oceans from plastic pollution.”
The company has now been officially accredited as a ‘gold standard’ four-day week employer under the 4 Day Week Campaign’s accreditation scheme that recognises four-day week employers in the UK.
Joe Ryle, 4 Day Week campaign director, added: “The four-day week with no loss of pay is a win-win scenario for both workers and employers. With the pandemic easing off and workers desperate for a better work-life balance, now is the perfect time for companies to implement a four-day week.
“In the wake of the great resignation, organisations should embrace the four-day week as a way of retaining staff and attracting new talent.”
City to Sea launched the major Refill initiative as part of its work to encourage people to cut down single-use plastic – photo: City to Sea
Main photo: City to Sea
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