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0Could a four-day working week work?
People in the UK work longer hours than anyone else in the European Union but are far from the most productive. According to the Trades Union Congress, a UK body that brings together 49 member unions to improve their working conditions, employees in Denmark are 24% more productive per hour but work four hours fewer per week.
'Britain's long-hours culture… is robbing workers of a decent home life and time with their loved ones. Overwork, stress and exhaustion have become the new normal,' says TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady. They want businesses to cut the standard working week from five days to four. But would a four-day week work?
It does for Rich Leigh, founder of a Gloucester-based PR business. Staff there work Monday to Thursday, 9am – pm, but still get paid the same as before. In an interview with the BBC, Leigh claims it makes the staff happier, which leads to better, more productive work. After a year, earnings and profits are up and sick days have halved.
The 4 Day Week Campaign also believes a shorter week would benefit everyone. They claim that it would, among other things, more evenly distribute work between the overworked and the underemployed. They estimate that around 30 UK businesses operate a 'four day, same pay' system.
However, not everyone is convinced. One of the UK's leading charities, the Wellcome Trust, conducted an organisation-wide consultation into whether a four-day week would fit. They decided against it. 'Many employees worried about their five-day workloads being compressed into just four days and some raised concerns that the time and energy used to implement a four-day week would distract the charity from its core work,' says Ed Whiting, director of policy at the Trust.
So does a four-day working week work or not? Clearly it suits some… but not everyone. "We've got a lot to do before it can work for different sectors," says Emelia Quist from the Federation of Small Businesses in a BBC interview. 'Social care needs people present 24/7. How can we ensure those industries can work a four-day week?' she adds. Until we can answer questions like these, there's clearly more work to be done.
词汇表
four-day working week 每周四天工作制，上四休三
European Union [ˌjʊərəˈpiːən ˈjuːniən] 欧洲联盟，欧盟
Trades Union Congress [ˌtreɪdz ˈjuːniən ˈkɒŋɡres] 英国工会联盟（TUC）
bring together 联合，汇集，集合
long-hours culture 长时间工作文化，超时工作文化，加班文化
rob of [rɒb] 剥夺，使丧失
decent [ˈdiːsnt] adj. 像样的，体面的，得体的
standard working week 标准工作周
sick days 病假天数，带薪病假
evenly distribute [ˈiːvənli dɪˈstrɪbjuːt] 均匀分配，均衡分布
the overworked [ˌəʊvəˈwɜːkt] 过度劳累者，过度工作者
the underemployed [ˌʌndərɪmˈplɔɪd] 就业不足者，未充分就业者
organisation-wide consultation [ˌkɒnslˈteɪʃn] 全组织范围的咨询
workload [ˈwɜːkləʊd] n. 工作量，工作负担
be compressed into [kəmˈprest] 被压缩成，被缩减为
core work 核心工作
sector [ˈsektə(r)] n. 行业，部门，领域
24/7 全天候，每时每刻（一天24小时，一周7天）
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