Hundreds of workers allowed to finish at 12pm on Fridays as part of summer scheme

Hundreds of workers are being allowed to leave early on Fridays

Hundreds of employees have been told they can finish work at 12pm on Fridays as part of a summer hours scheme.

Kellanova, which owns Kellogg’s and Pringles, has announced the scheme will run until September, with employees able to leave early provided they have completed a full week’s hours. The company employs more than 500 workers at its office in MediaCity, Salford, and a further 60 in its field sales team.

Kellanova said its research suggested that two thirds of people would be willing to work harder during the rest of the week if their employer gave them Friday afternoons off. Lejla Damon, Kellanova shopper marketing manager, said: “In my spare time, I’m training to become a yoga teacher and even run a monthly class for my colleagues in the office.

“In the five years I’ve worked at Kellanova, the summer hours programme has allowed me the time to take on extra courses as I work towards my qualification. This summer I’m looking forward to teaching a few additional classes with my Friday afternoons.”

Chris Silcock, managing director of Kellanova, said: “Our summer hours programme has been running for more than two decades now but it’s still such a great benefit for our teams. I know how hard everyone works throughout the week, so to be able to give people half a day for themselves really helps them to recharge and improves productivity.”

It comes after most of the UK companies that took part in the world ’s biggest ever four-day working week trial have made the policy permanent. This is according to research which was published in February this year, based on 61 organisations that took part in a six-month UK pilot in 2022. Of this total figure, 54 (89%) of the companies that took part are still running the policy and 31 (51%) have made the change permanent.