Ms Maeve McElwee:

I wish to pick up on the point Ms Cox made about ensuring we are clear about the difference between a flexible four-day work week and a reduced-hour week because they are very different issues. Particularly in the case of a four-day work week, one of the key concerns we hear from employers is that employees are not all seeking a four-day work week and a three-day weekend. In fact, there are many other flexibilities they require to be able to manage their personal lives and their own personal work-life balance. That is where issues such as the four-day work week cross over with remote working because children will still need to be dropped to school five days a week, they will still have appointments midweek that cannot necessarily be dealt with on one particular day off and so on. What we are really seeing as a drive across our membership base is that the employee relationship is becoming much more personal in respect of how flexibility operates for individuals. The narrative that is out there very much concerns how individuals want to interact with their employer. It is important we are clear what we are talking about, whether that is reduced hours, a four-day work week or flexible schedules. Flexibility represents the main driver we are seeing.