The British Society for Immunology (BSI) has announced that it will take part in a four-day working week pilot for six months, starting on 4 November.
During the pilot, which was approved by the board of trustees in July, participating BSI staff will be able to choose between working Monday to Thursday or Tuesday to Friday, with their weekly working hours reduced from 35 across five days to 32 across four days. This is to ensure full coverage of services across the week.
The initiative is run by the 4-Day Week Campaign and flexible working experts Timewise, that provide participating organisations with an independent analysis of productivity and staff wellbeing. This data can be used by the BSI board of trustees when deciding whether to continue with the four-day week in the longer term.
Additionally, the data will support research conducted by the University of Cambridge, Boston College and the Autonomy Institute. It has previously highlighted that shorter work weeks can lead to greater efficiency, with employees more focused and productive during concentrated work periods, improved health and wellbeing, and better retention and recruitment of talent.
Dr Doug Brown, chief executive of the BSI, said: “We are excited to offer this new benefit to those employees at the BSI who choose to participate, and hope that this will further enhance our working culture, providing staff with the opportunity to improve their work-life balance and making us an even more attractive employer.
“Of course, it is vital that the quality of service we provide to our members is maintained, and we will regularly review this throughout the pilot to make sure we continue to provide the full coverage of offerings and high-quality customer service that our members rely on us for.”
