A bank in the
United Kingdom has transitioned to a four-day work week without impacting pay
of employees thereby initiating a much-awaited change in work formats. Atom
Bank, headquartered in Durham, is the biggest UK firm to make the transition.

Working hours of
the bank’s 430 employees have been slashed from 37.5 to 34. Therefore, instead
of working 7.5 hours every day for five days a week, employees will now be required
to work 8.5 hours a day four days a week. The change is voluntary and most employees
are expected to take either Fridays or Mondays off.

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The four-day work
week pattern came into effect on November 1. According to the bank, the
transition is aimed at ensuring mental and physical well-being of employees. “A
four-day week will provide our employees with more opportunities to pursue their
passions, spend time with their families, and build a healthier work/life
balance,” said Atom CEO Mark Muellen in a statement.

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Launched in 2016
as a mobile bank, Atom provides savings accounts, business loans and mortgages
through its app. The bank CEO told CNN that Atom has not witnessed a decrease
in productivity so far but understands that it will take time for people to
adjust.

“If you’ve just
spent 20 years in one model and, all of a sudden, you’re thrown into a new one,
you wake up on a Friday morning you thin ‘what am I going to do with all this
time?” said Mullen.

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The four-day work
week has been a long-standing demand for workers. The clamour for reduced
number of days has only increased during the pandemic. Further, there is no
evidence that links reduced productivity with reduced number of working days.

In fact, two
studies carried out in Iceland between 2015 and 2019 which tried a four-day
work week saw no corresponding decline in productivity but a dramatic increase
in employee well-being.