Is the four-day week in your corporate future?

This week, we reveal this year’s most-hated corporate jargon , learn why retail billionaire Solomon Lew is still obsessed with Myer , and dig into data showing working from home could boost productivity by limiting office distractions .

But first: Insignia Financial has become the first firm in the Australian financial services industry to commit to a four-day-week trial .

The commitment, included in Insignia’s latest enterprise bargaining agreement, does not specify whether the firm will experiment with compressed working hours or reduced hours for the same pay, but Insignia has ruled out an initial company-wide trial.

But the Finance Sector Union of Australia said the experiment was agreed to as part of talks for employees to work 80 per cent of their normal hours for 100 per cent of their pay and 100 per cent of their productivity.

“With new technology coming into effect in the sector, there is a huge upside for workers to be more productive and therefore now is the time to have conversations in our workplace about the standard working week and make changes like a four-day work week,” FSU secretary Julia Angrisano said.

The announcement is significant given the financial services industry is notorious for expecting staff to work long and demanding hours.

It is also remarkable as it coincides with a gradual weakening in demand for white-collar workers, which in theory should reduce workers’ bargaining power and make employers less willing to offer perks and benefits to stop them from jumping ship and finding a job elsewhere.

But bosses who have embraced shorter work weeks have also made it clear that the movement is about more than just attracting and retaining talent.

Matt Games , co-chief executive of Findex Group, the parent company of auditing firm Crowe Australasia , said Crowe’s experiment with a nine-day fortnight brought the best out of employees because it enhanced their wellbeing and helped them balance their personal and work lives.

“When people are in a better place [overall], they certainly work better,” Games told The Australian Financial Review when Crowe Australasia permanently adopted a nine-day fortnight last year.

To be sure, not everyone thinks this is a useful and sustainable trend – even progressive workplace expert Adam Grant has his doubts – but it seems more likely than not that Insignia won’t be the last big employer to give it a try.

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The AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies list recognises and celebrates Australian businesses that are challenging the status quo. Check out all this year's winners here .

This year’s worst corporate jargon, and the woman trying to fight it

If that just made you want to throw your phone across the room in a rage, you want to meet Jaqui Lane : business author, “book coach” to corporate leaders, and the woman on a personal crusade to eliminate cringe corporate slang. That story (including a list of everyone's most hated jargon for your to steam over) here .

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