MINISTERS are being urged to examine moving towards a four-day working week in Scotland, with a motion set to go before the SNP’s conference next month.
Tom Arthur MSP and Angela Crawley MP have called on the Scottish Government to launch a review into “how working practices should be adapted to meet the needs of the future economy”.
It comes amid widespread concern over the impact of automation and technological change on Scotland’s future jobs market.
Last year, union leaders insisted moving to a four-day working week was achievable this century if the wealth from new technology is shared with workers.
The full motion tabled by Mr Arthur and Ms Crawley, who is the SNP’s women and equalities spokeswoman at Westminster, reads: “Conference welcomes the Scottish Government’s commitment to encouraging flexibility at work, which can have a beneficial impact for employers and employees.
“Conference believes that technological change offers opportunities for new models of working which can improve productivity and better reflect the needs of employers.
“Conference further believes that such flexibility could improve the physical and mental health of workers, as well as having a wider beneficial impact through reducing travel, increasing leisure time and providing flexibility for workers and their families.
“Conference calls on the Scottish Government to undertake a review into how working practices should be adapted to meet the needs of the future economy, including the possibility of a four-day working week, with a view to possible reform when Scotland gains control of employment rights.”
The motion will be voted on by SNP members at the party’s conference in Edinburgh next month before potentially becoming policy.
Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the Trade Union Congress, told its conference last year that unions had previously “won the right to a two-day weekend and paid holidays”.
She said: “I believe that in this century we can win a four-day working week, with decent pay for everyone.
“It’s time to share the wealth from new technology. Not allow those at the top to grab it for themselves.”
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