Advice firm Invest Blue has commenced a nine-day fortnight pilot to provide full-time employees, including its financial advisers, an extra 26 days off a year.

The initiative will cost about $1.9 million annually and is aimed at fostering employee well-being and driving productivity gains.

COO Lexi Glover says “business growth should never come at the cost of employee wellbeing”.

“Everyone is busy here and there’s plenty of work to do so, intuitively, it doesn’t make sense to compress the week and give people every second Friday off but research shows that this approach can lift productivity while increasing employee satisfaction,” she said.

Invest Blue says the move follows its recent inclusion in the list of Australia’s Best Workplaces for Women, an initiative of global people and culture organisation, Great Place to Work.

“Our vision is to be Australia’s trusted home of great advice,” Head of People and Culture Kasey Patterson said.

“Our mission is to have a recognisable presence across the country, which depends on our ability to attract, develop and retain advice professionals who are able to consistently deliver excellent advice and service to our clients.”

Invest Blue has a number of offices located in rural, coastal and city locations across Queensland, NSW, the ACT, Tasmania and Victoria, according to its website.