Haulage firm Walkers Transport has launched a four-day working week for its drivers, which aims to give them greater flexibility and more quality time with their families.
The haulier, which has depots in Leeds, Manchester and Fradley, is making the option of a four-day Monday to Friday working week available to all its drivers.
Employees who choose to work under the new system will operate on a rolling rota, with a requirement to work one Saturday every seven weeks.
Dubbed Walkers Balance, the initiative aims to offer flexible working patterns to suit employee lifestyles. The scheme will also continue to offer Walkers’ Elite Driver rewards, which allows drivers to earn an extra £4,000 a year on top of their salary.
Other benefits include a BUPA medical scheme and 23 holiday days, with being on a four-day week offering drivers an additional 52 non-working days a year.
The scheme also aims to incentivise drivers to earn more depending on the hours they work, with a higher hourly rate paid on the four-day arrangement.
Group operations director Scott Hobman explained that the firm’s new employment programme is a landmark moment in the logistics industry.
He said: “Walkers Balance takes us away from the industry norm and focuses on the importance of a balanced lifestyle for our employees. This new approach will allow drivers to spend more time with friends and family to do things that they enjoy, naturally leading to an improvement in wellbeing.
“As you can imagine this is a huge investment for the company and we need to ensure that it not only benefits employees, but also the business through improvements in absenteeism, morale, performance, and retention.”
Hobman added that the team is “really excited” about this and believes it will make a “significant” difference to working at Walkers Transport.