Huge four-day work week win for Aussies: Significant milestone
A finance company has offered its employees a four-day work week in an Australian first for the sector.
A finance company has offered its employees a four-day work week in an Australian first for the sector.
Wealth manager Insignia Financial has struck an enterprise bargaining agreement with the Finance Sector Union, which was ratified by members, that will also introduce safeguards over the use of artificial intelligence,
The deal also preserves work from home privileges and will deliver a $1,200 payment alongside a 9.5 per cent pay increase over three years, beginning with a four per cent annual pay rise for workers earning below $115,000 (base salary plus super).
A four-day work week pilot program will be run for a select group of employees during the course of the enterprise barganing agreement, but its details are yet to be determined by Insignia Financial, which will will consult with the union.
Currently staff must be in the office for 40 per cent of their time and the company can only change the arrangement by giving six months notice.
Insignia Financial chief people officer Mel Walls told The Australian the agreement was a significant milestone in our organisations integration journey.
The new enterprise agreement provides a range of new and uplifted benefits that we believe are reflective of a contemporary workplace, such as an increased commitment to flexibility provisions relating to hybrid working, she said.
FSU national president Wendy Streets said that the deal reflected the priorities of contemporary employees.
A finance company has offered its employees a four-day work week in an Australian first for the sector
Workers consistently tell us that they value workplace flexibility, and this agreement delivers significant improvements and will allow workers the ability to work in ways that suit them – including more time at home if that is their desire, she said.
The acknowledgment by Insignia that a four-day week is an emerging trend and ought to be trialled is an important step forward and win for Insignia workers. It will allow them to play a meaningful role in the evolution of workplace flexibility in our sector.
The FSU said the deal would ensure that even as Insignia Financial employs more AI there will always be a human making the final call in a decision-making process.
Health insurer giant Medibank, which employs nearly 4,000 staff, announced on Wednesday they would double the number of employees who could work for four days after a six-month trial where 250 staff were given the reduced work week.
At the end October Medibank moved the employees to an 100:80:100 model, which means 100 per cent of pay, in 80 per cent of the time, at 100 per cent productivity.
Moving to a four-day week is a trend being explored by a number of employers including health insurer Medibank and even retailer Bunnings
Medibank head of people and sustainability Kylie Bishop said working less hours had reaped a number of rewards.
Weve seen significant and sustained improvements in employee engagement, job satisfaction and the health and wellbeing of participants, while maintaining business performance and customer outcomes, Ms Bishop said.
The shortened week prompted a concentrated effort on planning and clearer alignment and agreement on outcomes and how the work is performed.
The trial was part of the 4 Day Week Global movement, which was founded by New Zealand entrepreneur Andrew Barnes after his financial services company Perpetual Guardian began working less hours in 2018.
Bunnings, owned by Wesfarmers, has also been trialling different work models, such as a four-day week or a nine-day fortnight, in a first for the Australian retail industry.
The move comes as many employers begin to curtail working from home prvileges including huge betting agency Tabcorp and the NSW government.