FMCG behemoth Kellogg’s are seemingly embracing the flex with their summer hours scheme initiative, which sees all their UK staff having Friday afternoons off as they aim to encourage their staff to take a break.
Coined the ‘summer hours scheme’ and first launched 19 years ago, runs between May and September and is designed to help employees improve their mental health by giving them a well deserved break from their screens.
However, there is a caveat to this offer, employees must have worked a full week's hours before 12pm Friday in order to take advantage of this scheme, which surely means you are just working longer hours in the week, probably adding increased stress in some ways, which doesn’t really make this scheme much of a benefit.
Additionally, the 12pm finish only applies to office based roles, as sales staff can choose any day of the week to take their half-day finish.
The summer hours scheme comes into light as more than 60 companies across the UK start trialling a 4-day work week after trials across countries such as Iceland saw roaring success, not only in a happier workforce but also reduced costs and more productivity.
Although Kellogg’s can be seen definitely trying, they may have missed the point of the scheme in reducing stress, if you still need to add the hours elsewhere, but time will tell.
