March 30, 2006 - ‘STAGGER 9 TO 5 FOR STAGGERING BENEFITS’
Just as Britain led the way with industrialisation in the 19 th century, we are looking to lead the world in changing the work culture in the 21 st

Organisations and employees across the UK are being invited to take part in Work Wise Week (3 - 9 May 2006) and help create a ‘smarter’ working Britain.

Staff and employers alike are being asked to spend the week trying out smarter working practices, such as flexible working, mobile working, remote working and working from home, so they can see for themselves the benefits and practicalities of this modern day approach to working.

Work Wise Week marks the start of Work Wise UK, a major three-year initiative with broad government, business and union support, which will encourage the widespread adoption of smarter working practices across the UK. This will revolutionise the way people work and lead to increased business productivity and competitiveness, reduced transport congestion and pollution, improved health, assist disadvantaged groups, and harmonise work and family commitments.

The aim is to increase the number of people currently enjoying smarter working from 3.1 million to 14 million, half the working population, within three years.

Many smarter working practices are very simple to implement, and it is these that organisations are being encouraged to try during Work Wise Week:

• Allowing staff to come in either an hour later or an hour earlier, with a reciprocal hour shift at the end of the day. This would enable staff to avoid the busiest travel times, effectively staggering the rush hour and making the journey far more tolerable for everyone.
• Allowing staff to take a half hour lunch break each day, and then let them leave at 3.00pm on the last day.
• Allowing staff to work from home on Friday 5 May. Even a small reduction in the number of people travelling on the roads or by public transport on that day will have a significant effect on congestion and overcrowding.

Phil Flaxton, chief executive of the IT Forum Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation which is behind the campaign, has urged organisations and staff to try out these smarter working practices. He said: “The obstacle to the evolution of the way we work is culturally based: we have traditionally always worked from nine to five, Monday to Friday.

“There is no reason at all why the UK can not adopt smarter working practices, and benefit from the huge advantages they will bring.

“The best way to be convinced of the merits of smarter working, or otherwise, is to try it, and an ideal opportunity for that will be during Work Wise Week.”

The concept of smarter working has been around for many years, but it is the recent advances in technology which will have had a huge part to play in facilitating its wider adoption. The continuing widespread growth of faster broadband across the UK, and the great steps made in mobile technology, are opening the door for a large cross-section of the UK population to benefit from smarter working.

Further information about Work Wise UK, and how organisations can participate in Work Wise Week, can be found on the website (www.workwiseuk.org).

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