Global giant Unilever to test four-day workweek in New Zealand

Global consumer goods giant Unilever will test a four-day workweek at its New Zealand branch before possible deployment to its more than 165,000 workers.

Nick Bangs, CEO of Unilever New Zealand, said that from Monday his 81 staff would start working four days a week while being paid for five, and no, that doesn’t mean his workers will work 10 hours a day.

“The whole premise is not to do 40 hours in four days.”

Bangs said the business would not be fully closed by the fifth day, but workers would stagger and take a full day or two half days off a week.

“From a practical point of view, it doesn’t literally work to turn off the lights on a particular day. So what we have is a tiered approach.

“It’s about the ultimate form of flexibility. We want to work with each individual and say, ‘What will work best for you so that you can be at your best?'”

Part-time workers will have the same opportunity to work 80 percent of their hours for 100 percent of their salary.

Bangs said he would test the change for 12 months, long enough to allow him to go through the initial “honeymoon phase.”

“We have very big business ambitions that don’t go away at all. And we need to find a way to be able to juggle the obvious benefits that this brings from an employee well-being perspective, but also fundamentally change the way we work.”

Bangs said that meant his focus was shifting to production rather than the number of hours worked and he will join the University of Technology in Sydney to get an independent measure of the impact on his productivity and staff well-being.

Bangs said the decision to test a four-day week was influenced by businessman Andrew Barnes, who tested the four-day work week at his Kiwi Perpetual Guardian trustee business in 2018, before becoming a global promoter of it.

“He has had a great influence on us. He talks about this as a mechanism for people to think, work and act differently.”

Bangs said Unilever had several reasons for deciding to test the change.

“This year has probably taught us that the way we work in the past is really not going to be suitable for the way we work in the future. We were pushed into this new way of operating and I think we have it all, and Certainly, I’ve learned a lot this year about what’s possible. “

Bangs said the company had been working on the idea for a couple of months, but only informed staff of the change last Wednesday.

“We have received each and every response, from some people saying, ‘This is not possible,’ and others saying, ‘This is the best gift I’ve ever had.’ So now we are in the process of working individually and by team to figure out how to make it work. “

Bangs said that he personally looked forward to using his fifth day to spend more time with his young family.

“I have three young children who would love to see a lot more of me. It’s going to be great for me to be able to drop them off that day at school, pick them up from school. I will be able to really put a little energy and time into myself over the course of the day and just recharge. “

Barnes, who is currently in Britain, said it was humbling to see such a large company take the idea and test it in New Zealand.

He said the challenge for a large organization was the temptation to overthink it, but what it took was personal to propel it through better ways of working.

Barnes said the four-day week could help improve mental health and the environment by reducing the need to travel.

He said one of his biggest disappointments was that the New Zealand Government, although it had made statements of support, had not yet accepted the idea.

He hoped that seeing one of the largest companies in the world give it a try, the government would also sit back and take action.