Tory Ministers are today urged to pay firms billions of pounds to kick-start a four-day week in the UK. Left-wing think tank Autonomy says the move would prevent mass layoffs in the wake of coronavirus, by allowing bosses to keep more people on the payroll.
Under the think tank’s ‘Shorter Working Time Subsidy Scheme’, proposed in a new report, firms would cut staff down to 80% hours but still pay 100% of their current wage.
Wages would be funded 80% by firms and 20% by the state in the first year. That state subsidy would then be reduced by 4% per year over five years until it reaches zero - embedding a four-day week more widely.