‘Compressed working’ – what is it, and how can it benefit your staff?

‘Compressed working’ can offer staff flexibility to fit work around their lives by contracting standard, full-time, hours into a shorter working week 

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on Indeed

A ‘compressed work week’ involves a schedule that fits standard, full-time, contracted hours into fewer than five working days. It can offer flexibility for employees with other commitments such as family, care, education or other work opportunities. For organisations considering a compressed working week, there are several key benefits that this schedule can provide. Here are some examples of this system’s advantages.

• Increases in flexibility without a reduction in hours – compressed working gives employees more flexibility without reducing their hours; this can bring an improved work–life balance while maintaining the same salary. 

• Benefits to employee health – compressed working offers more days off each week in return for longer hours on the days worked. This can give employees increased control over when they work to better support their health in the long term. For example, compressed working can free-up more time during the week to visit the doctor, cook healthy food, participate in sports and classes or go to the gym.

• Provides more time for errands – many employees struggle to complete errands and domestic tasks outside their working hours and may find it beneficial to have an extra day for activities that require other organisations to be open, such as shops, post offices, dry cleaners or GP surgeries.

• Reduction in commuting time – another significant advantage of compressing the same hours into fewer days is removing a whole day’s worth of commuting. Some people may spend hours travelling to and from a job in a different town or city; having an extra day off reduces unpaid commuting time and the costs of travel and parking. Reduced commuting time will also lessen pollution and wear on personal vehicles.

• Improves job satisfaction – if organisations offer flexibility to their staff to create a schedule that suits them better, employees will have greater job satisfaction and employers may see greater productivity and employee retention. Maintaining a healthier work–life balance can improve motivation and actually enable employees to be more efficient during the working day.