Atom Bank, an app-based fintech bank located in the north east of England, has introduced a four-day working week for all of its 430 employees, with no change in salary.
The majority of the bank’s workers chose to adopt the new working arrangement, which commenced earlier this month (November) and sees them move to a 34-hour week over four days, paid at the same rate as their former five-day, 37-and-a-half hour week. The default days off for most staff will be Mondays or Fridays, except for those working in operational and services roles who will vary theirs to ensure a continuous level of service for customers.
According to the bank, it introduced the initiative following a robust review process, which assessed a range of factors including productivity, effectiveness, available resources, and impact on external partners and stakeholders, before confirming that there would be no risks to customer service or operations. It will continue to monitor the commercial and wellbeing benefits of this change as part of a business-wide assessment.
Mark Mullen, chief executive officer at Atom, explained that a four-day week will provide employees with more opportunities to pursue their passions, spend time with their families, and also help to build a healthier work-life balance.
He commented that he firmly believes this will prove beneficial for employees’ wellbeing and happiness, and that it will have an equally positive impact on business productivity and customer experience.
“While we appreciate a four-day working week will not be right for all workplaces, the move to working from home has proved that working practices that may have seemed years away can be introduced rapidly. We are proud to be one of the first businesses to introduce a four-day week for all our employees, and we hope many others follow suit,” Mullen said.