紐時賞析／周休3日不減薪！英92%參與公司願意續辦 營收無負面影響

英国61间参与每周工作4天、不减薪的公司中，有56间说会继续实施每周4日工作制，比率约92%。(路透)

Inside the 4-Day Workweek Experiment

周休3日实验结果揭密

On a recent Wednesday morning, Matt Kimber did not sign into his job as a senior engineer at a software company. Instead, he went for a walk around his London neighborhood, picked up lunch at a cafe, and played with his two greyhounds.

最近一个周三上午，身为一间软体公司资深工程师的金柏没有登入上班。他反倒是在自己居住的伦敦街区散步，去咖啡厅买午餐，并和他的两只灰狗玩耍。

His employer, BrandPipe, was pleased to hear it. The company is one of several British businesses testing a four-day workweek with no reduction in pay, part of a six-month trial involving about 1,000 workers organized by the advocacy group 4 Day Week.

他的雇主BrandPipe听见这个消息很高兴。该公司是多间测试每周工作4天但不减薪的英国公司之一。这是倡议团体「每周4日工作制」所筹划为期6个月、涉及1000名员工试验的一部分。

After a previous pilot in 2022, 56 of 61 participating companies, or 92%, said they would continue with the four-day week, the group said. It is hoping to pave the way for a 32-hour, four-day week to be enshrined under British legislation, reducing the maximum number of hours currently allowed by law. Similar efforts have taken hold in Iceland, New Zealand, Scotland and the United States.

该组织表示，上次于2022年进行试验后，61间参与的公司有56间说，会继续实施每周4日工作制，比率约92%。试验希望为英国立法规定每周工作32小时、每周工作4日铺路，减少法律目前允许的最大工时。冰岛、纽西兰和美国也曾进行类似行动。

“It’s sound business sense,” said Geoff Slaughter, a co-founder of BrandPipe. “If you’ve got a team that’s happy, you’re less likely to lose them.”

BrandPipe共同创办人斯劳特表示：「这是明智的商业思维。如果你有一支快乐的团队，就比较不可能失去他们。」

To prepare for the trial, BrandPipe, which is fully remote, went through six weeks of workshops run by the 4 Day Week Campaign to help work out the logistics. The company collectively decided on a flexible arrangement in which employees take different days off, to ensure that clients are covered through the week. Most companies in the pilot are giving employees an extra day off each week, while some opted for a day off every other week.

为准备这个试验，采取全远端工作的BrandPipe参加「每周4日工作制」举办为期6周的研讨会，以协助解决后勤问题。该公司共同决定采取灵活的安排，让员工在不同的日子休息，确保客户整个星期都能得到服务保障。参与试验的大多数公司每周给员工额外休假一天，而有些公司选择每隔一周额外休假一天。

Everyone at BrandPipe attends a weekly team meeting, and key tasks have “surrogates” so that one employee can handle them if another is off, Slaughter said. The firm emailed clients explaining its participation in the pilot, he said, and reassured them that it would not cause disruptions.

斯劳特表示，BrandPipe的每一个人都会参加每周团队会议，且重要工作都有「代理人」，因此若某位员工休假，另一名员工能处理这些工作。他说，该公司发送电子邮件向客户解释，公司参与每周4日工作制的试验，并向他们保证不会造成困扰。

“What we’re trying to achieve here is making sure that we’ve got fresher minds for longer,” he said. “Because that’s when we’re doing our best work.”

他表示：「我们试图达成的目标是，确保维持头脑清醒更久。因为这样我们的工作表现最好。」

After the first trial, from June to December in 2022, 70% of the nearly 3,000 employees involved said they felt a decrease in stress and burnout, while companies reported no negative impact to their revenue, according to a report by the program’s organizers.

计划筹办者的一份报告指出，2022年6月至12月的首次试验后，参与试验的近3000名员工中有70%表示，他们觉得压力和倦怠有所减轻，而各家公司通报，试验对他们营收没有负面影响。

After the current trial, the campaign is planning to present the results to British officials, who have signaled an interest in reforming labor laws for British workers.

近期试验后，该组织正计划向英国官员展示结果，官员已表示有兴趣为英国员工改革劳工法。

文／Isabella Kwai　译／罗方妤