The average working week in the UK would be cut to 32 hours within ten years under a Labour government, John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer announced yesterday.

According to The BBC, this would reduce the workweek to the equivalent of four days, although it would not necessarily mean a day off as other methods could be used to cut hours.

“So I can tell you today that the next Labour government will reduce the average full time working week to 32 hours within a decade,” McDonnell said. “A shorter working week with no loss of pay.”

Data from Eurostat, the statistical body of the European Union, for 2018, puts the UK full-time working week at 42.5 hours, higher than the EU28 average of 41.2.

McDonnell committed Labour to reducing the working week by setting up an independent Working Time Commission, based on the Low Pay Commission, to recommend increases in minimum holiday entitlements, and rolling out collective bargaining to enable trade unions and employers to negotiate how to meet the target in each sector.

“It’s not just about a fulfilling life at work, we should work to live, not live to work,” McDonnell said. “As society got richer, we could spend fewer hours at work. But in recent decades progress has stalled and since the 1980s the link between increasing productivity and expanding free time has been broken. It’s time to put that right.”

Andrew Willis, Head of Legal at employment law expert Croner commented, “Fewer hours spent in work with no drop in pay may sound like music to the ears of the general UK workforce but employers are considerably less likely to raise a smile at this most recent Labour declaration.”

“Whether UK employers will be able to make the proposals work in their organisation will be influenced by several factors with many looking for new ways to work more quickly such as taking on more staff or embracing more efficient technology,” Willis said. “Although coming at a cost, this may be the answer for manufacturers and other employers who rely on mechanical equipment in their operations. The problem a reduction will cause for other employers, whose work relies on human input like many care or counselling providers, drivers or journalists, will not be so simple to fix, especially in industries, such as the NHS, where the current workforce is already famously overstretched.”

Willis added, “Workers who wish to work longer hours than the current restrictions allow for can legally do so by agreeing to ‘opt out’ of the maximum level. McDonnell also announced that this ability to opt out would be removed, essentially tying the hands of a worker who is content to work longer hours.”

McDonnell also announced that Labour would end the opt-out from the European Working Time Directive, eliminate in-work poverty during the first term of a Labour government, expand free universal public services, drive up wages and driving down living costs, and strengthen the social security system.

The annual Labour Party’s conference also saw an announcement that the next Labour government will require all large employers to introduce a menopause workplace policy to break the stigma associated with the menopause.