Should we still be working Monday to Friday? Or is it time to make a change? Whichever side you are on, the briefest mention of a ‘four-day week’ is enough to make any employee’s ears prick up.

Marcin Durlak

Marcin Durlak

Many will be pleased – or terrified – to hear that trials of a four-day week are already under way in the UK: for the next six months, the 4 Day Week campaign, thinktank Autonomy, and researchers from Oxbridge and Boston college are joining forces to run a pilot scheme assessing whether it is possible for employee productivity to function at 100% for 80% of the time.  

Similar trials are also taking place in Ireland, Canada, Australia, the US, New Zealand, Scotland and Spain this year. What will we see? Recent data from outsourcing company Airtasker revealed that over half of British workers think a four-day week would boost their productivity. And so far, evidence has suggested a number of benefits: lowering costs, strengthening performance, and boosting recruitment and retention, to name a few.

What about law firms?

It is early days, however, and law firms considering a shift to this new model should practise caution. With strict deadlines, and often gruelling caseloads and clients, it is already difficult enough for lawyers to get everything done when working 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday. By taking away an extra day, even with the best intentions, we would be more likely to infringe on lawyers’ freedoms than provide them.

The four-day week might not always go hand-in-hand with flexible working. Instead, the model could end up placing greater pressure on lawyers by forcing them to cram all their work into a shorter number of days – and longer weekends could increase the likelihood of lawyers working through them.

Essentially, there will be some weeks where it is simply not possible to get all the work done in four days. As a result, the fifth day will be used to finish everything off. This could leave a bad taste in lawyers’ mouths if the fifth day is supposed to be part of the weekend.

Looking after staff

This is not to say that lawyers should not be able to work four days if they want to – only that it should be on their own terms, as there will always be weeks where we are less busy than others. In such cases, a flexible working model will enable employees to work a four-day week if they want to. We know how rife presenteeism already is among lawyers, but providing true flexible working is a way of overcoming this.  

If lawyers are given the option to work a set number of hours but from where and when they want, they will be much happier in their job – and not totally frazzled. It is also worth remembering that flexible employers attract flexible people to work with them. If you are starting a couple of hours early or making up hours in the evening so you can make it to the school run, employees will know they can do the same. It is a give and take situation – if you look after your employees, they will look after you too.

Wellbeing and diversity

If lawyers are worked to the bone, they will burn out, meaning firms risk losing them as an employee, or their work not being up to standard. In particular, a four-day working model will not always be compatible with client expectations – particularly if that client is still working the full five-day week. This places lawyers under extra pressure and they could end up working additional hours, or giving risky advice to clients to try and push cases through quickly. As the legal sector strives to become more thoughtful in approaches to working practices and clients, it would be good to maintain this momentum and keep the likes of the Mindful Business Charter (which focuses on securing consensus between clients and lawyers about prioritising sensible working hours and work/life balance) front of mind.

Practice heads should also be thinking about diversity. Long hours crammed into fewer days might seem ideal to some people, but run the risk of attracting only a certain type of individual, while deterring others such as women who typically still provide most of the childcare. On that note, it is often the more experienced employees who have young children or elderly parents to look after. Employers do not want to lose valuable senior people, just at the point they give the business most value after years of training investment, by ignoring their personal commitments and need for flexibility.

Employers should think carefully about the range of people they need at the firm, how different their personal situations are and therefore the differing requirements for flexibility, and try to cater for all.

Conclusion

All things considered, a four-day week still does not sound so bad. But instead of imposing it on lawyers, the new working model should be offered through flexible working policies as an option, rather than a requirement. Law firms need to be flexible about flexible working.

 

Marcin Durlak is managing partner at IMD Solicitors