A financial company has offered its employees a four-day working week, an Australian first for the sector.
Wealth manager Insignia Financial has reached a corporate negotiation agreement with the Financial Sector Union, which was ratified by its members, which will also introduce safeguards on the use of artificial intelligence.
The agreement also preserves work-from-home privileges and will provide a $1,200 payment along with a 9.5 percent pay increase over three years, starting with a four percent annual pay increase for workers earning less than $115,000 ( base salary plus super).
A four-day workweek pilot program will be run for a select group of employees over the course of the enterprise bargaining agreement, but its details have yet to be determined by Insignia Financial, which will consult with the union.
Currently, staff must be in the office 40 percent of their time and the company can only change the agreement with six months’ notice.
Mel Walls, chief people officer at Insignia Financial, said The Australian The agreement was “an important milestone in our organization’s integration path.”
“The new enterprise agreement offers a number of new and enhanced benefits that we believe reflect a contemporary workplace, such as a greater commitment to flexibility provisions related to hybrid working,” he said.
FSU national president Wendy Streets said the agreement reflected the priorities of contemporary employees.
A financial company has offered its employees a four-day working week, an Australian first for the sector.
“Workers consistently tell us that they value flexibility in the workplace, and this agreement offers significant improvements and will allow workers to work in the way that suits them best, including more time at home if that is their wish,” he said.
‘Insignia’s recognition that the four-day week is an emerging trend and should be tested is an important step forward and a victory for Insignia workers. It will enable them to play a significant 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 insurance giant Medibank, which employs almost 4,000 people, announced on Wednesday it would double the number of employees who could work for four days after a six-month trial in which 250 employees received a reduced working week.
At the end of October, Medibank moved employees to a 100:80:100 model, meaning 100 percent of salary, 80 percent of the time, with 100 percent productivity.
Moving to a four-day week is a trend being explored by several employers, including health insurer Medibank and even retailer Bunnings.
Medibank chief people and sustainability officer Kylie Bishop said working fewer hours had reaped a number of rewards.
“We have seen significant and sustained improvements in employee engagement, job satisfaction and participant health and wellbeing, while maintaining business performance and customer outcomes,” Ms Bishop said.
“The shortened week drove a focused effort on planning and clearer alignment and agreement on outcomes and how work is done.”
The trial was part of the 4 Day Week Global movement, founded by New Zealand entrepreneur Andrew Barnes after his financial services company Perpetual Guardian began working fewer hours in 2018.
Wesfarmers-owned Bunnings has also been trialling different working models, such as a four-day week or a nine-day fortnight, for the first time in the Australian retail industry.
The move comes as many employers begin to restrict working from home privileges, including large betting agencies. Tabcorp and the New South Wales Government.