An Australian organisation is giving employees a four-day work week without sacrificing their pay.
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It's the first such arrangement for full-time workers in Australia to be formalised within an enterprise bargaining agreement, according to the Australian Services Union.
Oxfam Australia has committed to a six-month pilot of a 30-hour working week for employees.
It will then consider making the change permanent.
The new EBA also has increased personal leave to include menstrual leave, reproductive treatments and "those affected by the climate crisis".
Oxfam has 97 full-time and 37 part-time employees in Australia, of which about 90 are permanent roles.
Under the agreement, permanent full-time employees can choose to vary their hours and entitlements to 30 hours per week during four days without any loss of pay.
The EBA is set to be voted on from March 31 to April 4.
Thing of the past
ASU Victorian private sector branch secretary Imogen Sturni said a rigid Monday to Friday work week was a "thing of the past".
"When a worker is well supported and has the flexibility at work that they need in order to keep up with the varying demands in their lives, they actually perform better in their jobs," she said.
"This agreement also acknowledges the caring responsibilities that many workers, usually women but not always, have outside of work.
"A four-day, 30-hour work week is a win-win for Oxfam and its staff."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Less work is being explored
In November 2022, Unilever launched a 12-month trial of a four-day work week for its Australian business.
The initiative saw staff retain their full salaries while choosing which day or set of hours was most suitable for them to take off.
It followed an 18-month trial by the company in New Zealand, that found absenteeism dropped 34 per cent and stress was down 33 per cent.
Earlier this month, a parliamentary committee recommended a federal-government backed trial of the shorter work week.
The model for the trial would be 100:80:100; where workers keep 100 per cent of their salary, but work 80 per cent of the time, while maintaining 100 per cent productivity, it suggested.
