One of Australia’s biggest private health insurance companies is set to trial a four-day work week for six months with its 250 employees.
Medibank’s trial, named “The Gift”, will kick off at the end of October, and employees will move to a 100:80:100 model, a concept where employees maintain 100 per cent of their pay while reducing their working hours to 80 per cent, all while striving to uphold 100 per cent productivity levels.
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This initiative will be closely monitored and assessed by Macquarie University to ensure it evolves effectively over time.
For full-time employees, “The Gift ” translates to an additional day off each week and is prorated for part-time employees.
Medibank’s Group Lead, Kylie Bishop, said this trial represents the company’s commitment to fostering a more innovative, high-performance culture.
“We’re really wanting to bring the future of work into the now of work,” she said.
Ms Bishop said the company had been exploring to work smarter with more flexibility to create the best health and wellbeing for staff members.
“There are lots of pressures out there right now, whether it’s the cost of living or people managing their work and home commitments,” she said.
“We’re constantly thinking about how we can help balance that for our people and invest in their health and wellbeing to help prevent issues like burnout,” she added.
The employees participating in “The Gift” trial have expressed their anticipation for the opportunities it offers.
“There are lots of pressures out there right now, whether it’s cost of living or people managing their work and home commitments.”
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