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Insignia to trial 4-day work week in industry-first
Insignia has agreed to pilot a four-day work week for staff following months of workplace negotiations.
The licensee said it “acknowledges that a four-day working week is an emerging way of working that ought to be explored to identify its suitability for Insignia Financial”.
Staff would have the option to opt out of the trial and the design and parameters of the trial are to be confirmed in due course pending negotiations and agreement with the Finance Sector Union (FSU).
It also saw the removal of an expectation of 60 per cent attendance in the office, which will remain at the current rate of 40 per cent.
Research by recruitment firm Robert Half found over 60 per cent of Australian workers would prefer a four-day work week, a finding that transcended each generation of workers.
Moreover, Medibank revealed earlier this month that it is doubling the number of employees taking part in its four-day work week experiment, after a six-month trial showed employees are “happier, healthier and more efficient”.
Mel Walls, chief people officer at Insignia Financial, said: “As part of our 2024 enterprise agreement, we will explore the concept of a four-day working week to identify its ongoing suitability for our organisation.
“We have committed to a four-day work week pilot during the course of this enterprise agreement. The four-day working week pilot will be conducted with a contained group of people, with the parameters to be designed in consultation with our employees. Details of the pilot are yet to be finalised.”
Another agreement is to protect workers’ rights in the use of AI, ensuring that while AI can be a factor in the decision-making process, a human must always be the one to make the final call.
Negotiations with the FSU have been ongoing since late February 2024.
The list of updated benefits for staff, which are subject to final approval by the Fair Work Commission, include:
- Guaranteed annual pay increases for those earning up to $130,000 TFR
- Additional one-off $1,200 cost-of-living payment for all staff
- Increases to superannuation
- An industry-first trial of a four-day work week
- AI protections regarding decision-making processes and transparency around how AI is used
- Increased parental leave to 16 weeks paid for either parent
- Crystallisation of heritage severance pay entitlements
- Increasing severance pay from 36 weeks to 52 weeks
- Greater protections around working from home rights, including expanding exemption categories
FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano said: “Workers consistently tell us that they value workplace flexibility, and this agreement delivers significant improvements and will allow workers the ability to work in ways that suit them – including more time at home if that is their desire.
“Workers will not only benefit from the conditions they’ve achieved but can be proud in setting a standard for others in the finance sector. AI and flexibility are important to our members, and employers should be aware as they prepare offers that these clauses will become industry standards.”
The firm previously came under fire in July for proposing to slash staff redundancy pay arrangements by 58 weeks. The enterprise agreement provided for up to 94 weeks of redundancy pay, but it was proposed that this would be cut to 36 weeks after the first 12 months of the new agreement being in place.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
Laura Dew is editor at Super Review. Prior to joining SR, she spent five years working at Investment Week in the UK covering asset and wealth management.
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