Piatkus signs 'compelling' book on the four-day week

Piatkus has snapped up a book on the benefits of the four-day working week which provides “compelling data that a more flexible approach to work is in all our best interests”.

Tom Asker acquired world rights to The 4 Day Week: How the Flexible Work Revolution Can Increase Productivity, Profitability and Wellbeing, and Create a Sustainable Future directly from author Andrew Barnes. The imprint will publish the book in the UK on 6th February 2020.

The synopsis explains: “In The 4 Day Week, Andrew Barnes presents a radical, convincing case for a sustainable, profitable future in which we work less, but are more productive, engaged and satisfied. He argues that the traditional five-day working week is outdated and no longer fit for purpose in a hyper-connected digital era. Meanwhile the gig economy threatens hard-won worker protections, from annual leave and sick pay to retirement savings. With the four-day week, Barnes says we can have the best of all worlds: optimal productivity, work-life balance and worker benefits.”

Asker said: “The 4 Day Week is a deeply researched, cogently argued manifesto for a revolution in the way we think about work. Andrew Barnes’s model values the wellbeing of the worker at home in equal measure to their productivity in the office, and presents compelling data that a more flexible approach to work is in all our best interests. Barnes is not only a hugely successful businessman, but a fantastic writer, too. The 4 Day Week will be essential reading for business leaders and employees alike.”

Barnes added: “With its emphasis upon productivity, not time, the four-day week tackles hard issues facing our world: the mental health epidemic, gender equality in pay and access to the ‘C’ suite, and the environmental crisis.”

Barnes’ New Zealand-based company Perpetual Guardian implemented the four-day week after a successful trial. Academics who studied the trial found staff at the firm’s offices around the country reported lower stress levels, higher levels of job satisfaction and an improved sense of work-life balance, according to The Guardian.