After the pandemic, research indicates that while productivity has dwindled, wage growth has remained stagnant, leaving many employees feeling overworked and exhausted.

The solution, according to the ACTU, is working shorter hours at the same pay.

Next week, the main union organization intends to present the case for reduced working hours and the adoption of a four-day work week across the nation at the Economic Reform Roundtable in Canberra.

“People want to be able to have a life as well as be able to work, and they don’t want to live to work,” she told 9news.com.au.

“We don’t want to see improvements just go to profits, just go to shareholders or executive bonuses.”

The ACTU suggests that businesses implement a four-day week wherever feasible. If this isn’t possible, they recommend providing additional rostered days off, more annual leave, and reorganizing schedules to enhance employees’ work-life balance.

Studies from both Australia and other countries indicate that such changes could enhance performance, reduce exhaustion, and improve both health and retention rates among employees nationwide.

It could also help shorten the gap between productivity growth and wage growth in Australia.

An analysis by the Centre for Future Work found that if wages had increased in line with productivity since 2000, Australians would potentially earn an additional $350 weekly by 2025.

“Wages improving is critically important for living standards, but workers having more time to live is also important,” O’Neil said.

A reduced work week would also benefit businesses.

“If we’ve got a better balance between our work life and our home life, then when we come to work, we’re more effective, we’re more able to focus, we’re more able to get the job done,” O’Neil said.

“All of these things are benefits for employers, and this is not just unions and the ACTU saying this.”

One 2023 study of ten Australian companies trialling the four-day week revealed that 70 per cent reported higher productivity.

The other 30 per cent reported productivity levels were the same as pre-trial.

The ACTU argues that businesses across the country could see similar productivity boosts if only they would invest in capital, research and – most importantly – people.

But some sectors disagree.

The Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association (ARCA) said a four-day work week would slash productivity and take a toll on hospitality businesses, especially in CBD.

“We can’t cram service into fewer days,” ARCA CEO Wes Lambert said in a press release.

He said “a blanket four-day rule” would be “a death blow for CBD cafés already struggling” as one in 10 currently face closure.

But ACTU isn’t suggesting a blanket rule across all sectors and industries.

Rather, O’Neil is calling for Australian businesses to consider how shorter working hours for the same pay could be sustainably implemented at an industry and individual level.

“We want to see this change happen in a fast way, but also a fair way.”