Keir Starmer Faces Commons Rebellion as MPs Demand Four-Day Workweek With Full Pay

Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, is currently dealing with the possibility of a rebellion in the House of Commons. This comes after some Labour Members of Parliament (MPs) suggested that a four-day working week should be included in a larger plan to improve workers’ rights.

A group of twelve Labour MPs and one Green MP are pushing for the government to establish a special group to study the idea of introducing a four-day working week for workers across the UK.

These MPs, who are not part of the government’s frontbench team, are supporting a change to the Employment Rights Bill. If this change is approved, it would create a team of experts to look into how the UK could move from a five-day working week to a four-day working week without reducing workers’ pay.

The Employment Rights Bill, which is currently being debated in the House of Commons, is being led by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner. The bill includes several new protections for workers, such as banning zero-hours contracts, stopping the practice of “fire and rehire,” and giving workers better rights to sick pay and flexible working hours.

However, the Conservative Party has warned that these new laws, which they compare to French-style labor laws, could harm the economy and put jobs at risk by adding more regulations for businesses.

Downing Street has already indicated that it will reject the proposed change to the bill that calls for a four-day working week.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said that the government’s plans for the Employment Rights Bill are clear and that they do not support a general move to a four-day working week with the same pay as a five-day week.

Supporters of the four-day working week argue that working fewer days makes people happier and reduces the risk of burnout.

Peter Dowd, the Labour MP who proposed the change to the bill, said that with advancements in technology, such as artificial intelligence, people can work more efficiently, and the benefits of this should be passed on to workers.

He believes that a four-day, 32-hour working week is the future and is urging his party to support the change so that the UK can start moving in this direction.

Maya Ellis, another Labour MP, added that data shows working four days a week can lead to higher productivity than working five days. She believes this could help public organizations get more work done and improve the capacity of public services, which are currently under a lot of pressure.

However, this push for a shorter working week comes at a time when many companies are asking their employees to return to the office full-time.

For example, US investment bank JP Morgan and tech giant Amazon have both told their staff to come back to the office every day, even though they had allowed hybrid working arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lord Stuart Rose, a former CEO of Asda and Marks & Spencer, has also criticized remote working, saying it doesn’t count as “proper work.”

On the other hand, the 4 Day Week Foundation is campaigning for a shorter working week to improve people’s well-being. Joe Ryle, the campaign director, said that simply squeezing the same number of working hours into four days instead of five is not the same as a true four-day working week.

He believes the bill should include a commitment to explore a genuinely shorter working week, which he says workers want. He pointed out that hundreds of British companies and one local council have already shown that a four-day week with no loss of pay can benefit both workers and employers.