Reduced and compressed hours

We are committed to our working practices reflecting our values – working collaboratively, championing equity and inclusion, significantly reducing our impact on the environment, and leading change by example.

In recent years we’ve adopted a number of progressive working practices, including implementing a new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy, developing inclusive recruitment, providing flexible working for our staff, updating our freelance rates, and paying content contributors for their lived experience.

Our latest initiative is to undertake a year-long trial of working to reduced and compressed hours. This trial is based on detailed research into the various studies completed on reduced and compressed hours and the four-day week.

This research demonstrates significant benefits to staff wellbeing and productivity, and we are confident this will have a positive impact on our work.

What this means for our members

The trial will begin on 1 August 2023 and run for one year. Our working week will be Monday to Thursday, with our office being closed on a Friday.

We will respond to all regular queries around our membership, events, professional development and our other services within our working hours. We will also ensure that we are available for urgent and emergency contact out of hours – see our contact page for more details.

We are also changing the delivery of our weekly newsletters, which will now be delivered on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

We are committed to offering good service to our members and we will ensure we benchmark our service throughout the life of the trial.