Charity’s year-long study shows shorter working week leads to increased staff well-being without harming productivity
A leading charity has said it will adopt a 32-hour week following a year-long trial, and is sharing its findings in a new report.
Photo by Vitaly Gariev / Unsplash
The Mental Health Foundation ran a pilot between April 2024 and April 2025, with staff working 32 hours per week with no loss of pay. Part-time staff worked proportionately reduced hours. The results were striking.
Some 79% of staff participating in the study reported better work/life balance. Some 69% reported less work-related stress. Some 68% reported improved mental well-being. And some 64% reported a greater sense of satisfaction in life.
The charity says that these findings are important given high levels of stress and burnout in workplaces across the UK – an issue the Mental Health Foundation deals with directly.
What’s more, the focus on reduced hours over the whole week rather than a four-day week model gives staff flexibility to structure how they work. That makes it easier to balance work with other commitments such as childcare or caring responsibilities.
The results of the pilot also suggest that a 32-hour week can help to reduce inequalities in the workplace. Staff with lived experience of poor mental health reported the highest gains, with greater improvements in mental well-being, satisfaction with work/life balance and with life generally. Those with a disability, long-term condition, neurodivergence, or parenting or caring responsibilities also described specific ways the pilot had improved their quality of life.
In addition, part-time staff reported a larger decrease in work-related stress than full-time colleagues.
As a result of reduced working hours, the charity has seen a range of benefits in terms of recruitment and retention of staff. Applications for vacancies nearly doubled compared to the previous year, with 28% of applicants citing the 32-hour week as one of their main reasons for applying. There has also been a 50% reduction in staff members expressing an intention to leave.
In recognition of its work, the Mental Health Foundation has now received gold standard accreditation from the 4 Day Week Foundation.
Natalie Frend, HR Manager at the Mental Health Foundation, says: ‘I now work a four-day week which has made a massive difference. I finish on a Thursday and have no alarm the next day! I now use the time to go swimming and exercise or just have some down-time. This is a new concept to me as a single mum of two children, having spent the last ten years on my own. It has given me extra space to get chores and life-admin done and has freed up my weekend.’
Mark Rowland, Chief Executive at Mental Health Foundation, adds: ‘With levels of workplace stress and burnout still at epidemic levels across the UK, we undertook this pilot with the aim of sustaining great performance and improving the mental health and well-being of our staff. Importantly, productivity has remained stable or improved during the pilot and that in many cases the standard of our work had increased through better prioritisation and ways of working.
‘The strength of the results of the pilot were even better than expected which is why we have now made the pilot permanent. We’re delighted from a leadership perspective that this has had such a positive impact on both our work and staff.’
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