Australians might quickly be paid their full-time wage to work simply 4 days per week ought to sweeping proposals from a senate inquiry be adopted.
The landmark report by the choose committee on work and care backed a raft of adjustments, together with a yr of paid parental go away and the correct to disconnect from work exterior of hours.
Greens senator Barbara Pocock, who chaired the inquiry, known as on the federal government to noticeably take into account the “ambitious” reforms to spice up the standard of life.
“In our history, Australia led the world in reductions in the working week in the 1850s. We’re at the other end of the spectrum with too many Australians working very long hours,” she instructed ABC News Breakfast.
“We need to think more seriously about how we deal with a changed workforce.”
The report really helpful the Albanese authorities trial the 100:80:100 mannequin. Workers would proceed to be paid a full-time wage and keep productiveness regardless of working 80 per cent of the week.
“We heard a lot of evidence … of people who are already working a four-day week in workplaces that are trialling a reduction in working hours and getting very positive results,” Senator Pocock mentioned.
“We’re seeing in the evidence improvements in productivity, a lot greater work and family balance, and really good outcomes in the workplace and at home in terms of relationships and putting your life and your job together.”
The pilot could be unfold throughout the workforce and carried out in partnership with an Australian college.
Labor in the meantime has dedicated to a reform of the paid parental go away scheme, making it simpler for brand spanking new fathers to spend time at residence.
And by 2026, Labor is hoping to spice up paid parental go away to 26 weeks whole, slightly than the 20 weeks at present accessible.
the Greens are pushing for stronger insurance policies, together with superannuation funds for the go away and a transparent path towards a full 52 weeks off.
“The government-funded leave should be paid at least at the minimum full-time wage, with consideration given to encouraging employers to top up payments to full wage replacement,” the report states.
A evaluate into the thought of the 38-hour work week and whether or not stronger penalties have been required for employers who made employees work lengthy hours ought to be thought-about by the Fair Work Commission, the inquiry mentioned.
Another key advice from the report was limiting employers from contacting staff exterior of labor hours except it’s an emergency.
“What people are saying is, can we work our working hours and once we’re beyond those, unless it’s absolutely urgent, we should be able to turn the phone off and not be at its beck and call,” Senator Pocock added.
While the report had the broad assist of Labor and Coalition senators, further feedback offered by authorities members famous the reforms won’t be doable within the present financial atmosphere.
“This fiscal reality necessarily imposes constraints on social policy,” Labor senators Deborah O‘Neill, Jana Stewart and Linda White said.
“It is now the role of government to consider the report and its recommendations within the context of broader budgetary and legislative constraints.”
Research shows dramatic impact of four-day week
This all comes as recent research has found that staff on a four-day work week are more productive, with companies which took part in the experiment seeing their revenue dramatically increase.
The first large-scale study of its kind, released in December, is the latest in the push to reduce the mandatory five-day working week.
Australia was one of the countries involved in the study, which also included New Zealand, the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland.
Over 10 months, nearly 1000 employees at 33 different companies took part in the trial.
Their hours were cut down by an average of six hours and they worked one less day a week, while still receiving their regular full-time salary.
The report found that revenue rose 8 per cent during the trial, but it was up a whopping 38 per cent from the same period a year earlier.
Employee absenteeism also dropped and 67 per cent of employees said they were less burnt out.
Staff also reported less fatigue, with levels going down from 66 per cent before the trial to 57 per cent after the trial. Insomnia and sleep problems for employees also went down by 8 per cent.
It was such a success, that two-thirds of the firms decided to retain the four-day work week, including the Australian offices of Unilever.
Companies rated the overall experience a nine out of 10, with resignations dropping slightly and the ability to attract new workers also increasing.
The research was co-ordinated by not-for-profit advocacy group 4 Day Week Global in partnership with researchers at Cambridge University, Boston College and Oxford University.
“This is important because the two-day weekend is not working for people,” lead researcher Juliet Schor told Bloomberg.
“In many countries, we have a work week that was enshrined in 1938, and it doesn’t mesh with up to date life. For the wellbeing of people that have jobs, it’s important that we deal with the construction of the work week.”
Other than the US, Australia was the biggest participant within the research.
Source: www.news.com.au
