Four-Day Work Week Payroll Impact Calculator
The UK 4-day work week pilot (61 companies, 2023) showed 71% reported burnout drop and 39% lower attrition with no productivity loss. Calculate the financial impact for your specific cost structure before piloting.
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The 4-day work week (100% pay, 80% hours, 100% output) shifted from fringe to mainstream after the UK pilot of 61 companies in 2023. Pilot data: 71% employee burnout reduction, 39% attrition reduction, 1.4% average revenue growth, and 92% of pilot companies kept the policy. This calculator models the employer-side financial impact for your specific salary base, coverage needs, and attrition rate.
Where the 4-Day Week Wins on Math
Knowledge work salaried roles are the sweet spot. Salary stays flat, so payroll is unchanged, but three savings appear: attrition drops 30-40% (UK pilot), saving ~100% of replacement cost per retained employee; facilities (heating, electricity, food service) drop 15-20%; and productivity stays flat or rises 2-8% as employees compress focus into four days. For a 200-person knowledge-work team at $85K average salary, net positive impact typically lands at $400K-$1.2M per year.
Where It Breaks
Shift-based work (healthcare, retail, hospitality, manufacturing) breaks the model because customer-facing coverage requires hiring 15-25% additional headcount — which erodes the entire savings. Variants for these industries: 9-day fortnight (alternate week off), compressed hours (4×10), or summer 4-day (May–September only). Run the pilot on one team first, measure attrition and revenue per FTE over 6 months, then decide before company-wide rollout. Most failures come from rolling out too fast without process redesign.
Last updated May 2026. Sources: 4 Day Week Global UK Pilot, SHRM.