Then money, rules and trust collided. One dismissal showed how fragile the bargain was.
Many firms are racing to pilot the 100-80-100 model: full pay, fewer hours, same output. The promise lands well. The practice tugs on rent, childcare and side gigs. Researchers tracking trials say one case now stands out. A company cut to four days. An employee used the fifth to keep a second job. Compliance called it a conflict. The firm ended their contract.
A promise collides with policy
The four-day week sells clarity: work smarter, not longer. Reality often arrives with footnotes. Side work sits in the grey. Non-compete clauses blur. Client overlap raises alarms. When a pilot starts without new rules on moonlighting, people test the edges. They do it because bills are due, not because they want drama.
Trust breaks first when a policy treats the fifth day as company property while workers treat it as their own.
Most pilots reshape workflows well enough: shorter meetings, tighter priorities, fewer interruptions. Friction begins when the old handbook runs the new schedule. In the case researchers flagged, a long-standing second job moved into the new free day. The business judged it a breach. HR moved fast. The result was a firing that overshadowed the trial’s early wins.
What went wrong inside the pilot
Intent and interpretation parted company. Leaders thought 100-80-100 meant exclusive focus inside four days and smarter output. Staff heard the same headline and assumed the extra day belonged to them, provided they protected data and avoided direct competitors. The gap was never closed in writing. That silence created risk.
Silence is a policy; it tells people to guess. In tight economies, guessing bends toward income.
Managers then faced a choice: punish late, or fix early. The organisation chose the fastest sanction. That decision gave a tidy answer and a noisy message. People learned that the fifth day might be a trap door, not a dividend. Momentum dipped. The pilot became a compliance story.
The money question the policy missed
Inflation has shifted work-from-home expenses, childcare costs and commuting patterns. A shorter week can reduce transport and wraparound care, but it can also compress intensity. When intensity rises without a pay buffer, employees look for a second stream. The maths is simple and human. A free weekday can be worth £80–£200 for a part-time shift, tutoring slot or delivery round. That cash covers a bill the salary does not.
| Scenario | Risk to employer | Impact on worker | Simple fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second job, non-competitor, daytime hours | Low if data and clients are protected | Stabilises monthly budget | Declare, add guardrails, review quarterly |
| Second job, overlapping client base | High conflict-of-interest risk | Income boost but legal exposure | Prohibit overlaps, propose different shift or employer |
| Gig work using company laptop | Security and IP breach risk | Convenience for worker | Ban use of corporate systems for side work |
How firms can run a safer four-day trial
Leaders can keep pace with reality by setting new, plain rules when the schedule changes. Treat time as a budget. Specify what counts as work, what triggers a conflict, and what a review looks like.
- Publish a one-page moonlighting policy tied to the pilot’s start and end dates.
- Define red lines: direct competitors, overlapping client hours, and use of company systems.
- Create a confidential declaration form for existing gigs and log it before the pilot begins.
- Switch to visible output scoreboards and weekly goals to replace presence-based judgement.
- Offer a correction window before sanctions; rescue costs less than rehire.
- Consider a modest stipend or pilot bonus if intensity rises, so day five is not a financial cliff.
People cooperate when they can ask awkward questions in daylight and see fair rules applied consistently.
Manager playbooks that prevent panic
Role-play “what if” cases before launch. Give managers scripts that protect dignity and the business. For example: “If your side work touches our clients or uses our systems, we need to adjust it. If it does not, declare it and we’ll set guardrails.” Tone becomes policy in motion. Practise it.
What employees should ask before day five
Workers can protect themselves by surfacing the facts early. Bring specifics: the nature of the second job, days and hours, any platform you will use, any client overlap, and how you will keep data separate. Ask for a written note confirming the arrangement, the review cycle and the red lines.
- Does the company view day five as personal time or compressed work time?
- Which conflicts matter most: competitors, clients, sensitive data, or brand risk?
- Which devices and accounts are off-limits for side work?
- What happens if a conflict appears mid-pilot? Is there a fix path?
- How will output be measured so speed does not turn into burnout?
A quick budget reality check
Consider a £40,000 salary and a monthly shortfall of £160 after rent, energy and food. A single eight-hour shift at £20 per hour on day five covers that gap. If your employer bans all side work, ask how the pilot will address rising costs and intensity. If the policy allows non-conflicting gigs, agree date-stamped guardrails and a review window.
A four-day schedule without a money conversation invites rule-bending; a clear deal invites loyalty.
Why this moment matters beyond one dismissal
The four-day week tests more than calendars. It tests whether companies can refresh the social contract in a high-cost era. Researchers say most pilots hold output steady or lift it, provided teams cut low-value work and managers protect focus time. Where trials stall, the cause is rarely the shorter week alone; it is ambiguity about goals, metrics and side work.
If leaders frame day five as a shared win—rest for people, focus for teams, cleaner results—trust compounds. If they frame it as a gotcha, the flywheel stops. Staff optimise for safety, not performance. Rumour replaces clarity. The lesson from the firing is blunt: write the rules people actually live by, not the rules you hope they will never test.
Practical add-ons that keep the trial on track
Two small additions help. First, set up an anonymous channel for policy questions and edge cases. That surfaces risks early. Second, hold a mid-pilot calibration: refresh goals, adjust workloads, and revisit side-gig declarations. Life shifts; the policy should keep pace.
Side work will not vanish. It can sit safely alongside a shorter week when both sides respect the border. The border is simple: no competing clients, no corporate systems, no hidden hours. State it, test it, and keep score on outcomes, not attendance. The companies that do this will keep the talent they need. The rest will keep writing exit letters on a Friday afternoon.
