The change came into effect from 1 November, and employees have the choice to move to a 34-hour working week over four days paid at the same rate as a five-day or 37.5-hour working week.
Days when employees are in, they will work slightly longer hours of 8.5 hours a day, as opposed to 7.5 hours under previous rules.
Mondays and Fridays are expected to be the typical days off, except for those in operational or service roles to maintain constant service levels.
Whilst exact numbers are not available a spokesperson said that the vast majority of employees had adopted the four-day working week and there has been no decline in business metrics since it had been introduced.
The introduction came after a “robust review process”, which assessed productivity, effectiveness, available resources and impact on external partners and stakeholders, and found there would be no risk to customer service or operations.
Atom Bank added that the change reflected the “strong preference” for workers to work flexibility and that five-day working week was becoming unnecessary as permanent office working and the daily commute was becoming less attractive.
Ensuring loyalty
Reports from The Times also suggest that the move could help improve the attrition rate at the firm and encourage loyalty, which it said runs between 7.5 per cent to 17.5 per cent and is close to the top of that range currently. It also added that the move is likely to be permanent.
Atom Bank’s chief executive Mark Mullen said that the pandemic had “exploded many of the myths of modern workplace” as many jobs could be done effectively at home, and it placed more focus on the impact of work on mental and physical health.
He said: “We believe the 20th century concept of a five-day week is, in many cases, no longer fit for purpose for 21st century businesses. Its introduction originally allowed for the establishment of the weekend, with all the benefits for employees this entailed. At Atom, we feel the time is right for the next evolution in the world of work.”
“A four-day week will provide our employees with more opportunities to pursue their passions, spend time with their families, and build a healthier work/life balance. We firmly believe that this will prove beneficial for our employees’ wellbeing and happiness and that it will have an equally positive impact on business productivity and customer experience.”
He added that the four-day working week may not be right for all workplaces but the move to working from home had shown that changes that might have seemed long-term can be introduced quickly.
Mullen said: “We are proud to be one of the first businesses to introduce a four-day week for all our employees, and we hope many others follow suit. With Covid-19 causing vast numbers of people to reconsider how they want to live their lives, anything that leads to more productive, healthier, and, crucially, happier colleagues, is a win for everyone.”
Atom Bank was launched in 2016, initially with fixed saver accounts and secured business lending to SMEs, followed by a mobile mortgage proposition later that year.
It offers remortgage, home mover, first-time buyers, product transfer and less-than-perfect credit mortgage products and has surpassed £3bn in mortgage completions since 2016. It also recently stuck a £500m buy-to-let funding partnership with Landbay.
According to media reports the Durham-based fintech also intends to float in 2022 and 2023.
