Shorter uptime is a solution that has already been implemented in several countries. In Iceland, about 86% of employees have switched to a shortened working week. In Spain, the program is being tested with EU funds, and in Belgium the possibility of dividing the hours into 4 days is legally guaranteed, which, admittedly, is not a reduction in working hours, but a reduction in the volume of the working week. In France, since 2000, a 35-hour working week has been in force for most sectors, and in Denmark shorter working hours are considered the norm, despite the fact that this is not defined by any legal regulation.
We wrote more about this idea here: The 4-day work week: a recipe for efficiency and well-being? and here: The 4-day work week and gender inequality.
The pilot program is to be tailored to the specifics of the company, so it will be flexible and adapted to the nature of the employer's activities. The program will be voluntary and the terms and conditions of participation will be announced by June 30. After that, the recruitment will begin. Employers will be able to take advantage of the program from next year. During the conference, the Minister of Labour, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, said:
It is high time to reduce time while maintaining the same salary. 107 years have passed since the introduction of the 8-hour working day. It's time to take the next step. Poles are working more and more efficiently, smarter. It's time for them to work less and less.
What benefits can there be in introducing shorter working hours while maintaining the same salary? Here are the main pluses:
- improved state of health,
- lower risk of burnout
- fewer accidents at work,
- reduction of sick leave.
At the same time, despite the prevailing opinion, this model does not have a negative impact on the efficiency of work and financial results of enterprises.
research
In the study Autonomy & Icelandic Trade Union Report, 2021 one of the participating companies admitted that:
Our workplace joined the pilot program and we made various changes as part of it. For example, we changed the shift schedule. It kind of automatically changed the way you think at work — you know, you start to think again and become more flexible. Instead of doing everything the same, according to the established routine as before, people began to reevaluate how to do tasks, and suddenly began to do things completely differently than before. People also began to cooperate with each other.
The results of a government study showed that the introduced work system contributed to a decrease in stress among employees and increased motivation and their productivity was maintained or increased. Thanks to the program 86% Icelandic workers have been granted the right to reduced working hours.
In the report The results are in: the UK four-day week pilot a study by The Autonomy Institute indicated that the pilot program in the UK resulted in the implementation of fo in 56 out of 61 (i.e. 92%) companies. When it comes to hard data it is:
- Decrease in employee turnover: -57% during the study period.
- Burnout reduction: -71%.
- Less stress: -39% of employees.
The program can benefit both employees and employers. In Poland, for now, we are starting with a pilot, which aims to study the reaction of the market to this type of idea.
Would such a model have a chance to be introduced permanently in Poland?
According to an analysis by the Institute for Structural Research, reducing the work week from five to four days - or 20% - would mean having to increase employment by about 25% to maintain the same level of productivity. Meanwhile, due to demographic trends, Poland is already struggling with a shortage of workers, which will increase even with the current five-day work week.
Projections on the employment structure indicate that by 2040 there will be staff shortages in 21 of the 39 occupational groups analysed. In the event of a reduction in working hours, the shortages would affect all groups, with particular severity in the services sector.
What are the critical voices?
One of the skeptics of the permanent introduction of a reduction in working hours is Robert Lisicki, legal adviser, director of the Labor Department of the Lewiatan Confederation, who told the portal Prawo.pl as follows:
In the case of production, processing or trade, process automation is key. The low productivity of labor is primarily due to the meager resources of capital and the lack of advanced technologies (...). Only about 8% of companies in Poland use AI, but it is not known how many of them are limited to chatbots.
On the one hand, there are many reasons for this, but it is doubtful that a model would be introduced in Poland that would be legally binding for every entrepreneur to use it, regardless of the sector. For the time being, the program is mainly intended for companies whose nature allows for more flexible changes in work. In spite of everything, perhaps it is better to start changing the way you think about work culture in general: why should it be better? Why should we and should work less? And how could we do that? As a reminder: Poles are one of the most working nations in Europe — the average Pole worked an average of 1,800 hours a year in 2023.
Sources:
- https://www.gov.pl/web/rodzina/idzie-nowe-ruszamy-z-pilotazem-skroconego-czasu-pracy
- https://4dayweek.io/country/iceland?utm_source=chatgpt.com
- https://www.prawo.pl/kadry/skrocenie-czasu-pracy-co-proponuje-mrpips,532715.html
- https://www.pulshr.pl/prawo-pracy/klamka-zapadla-bedzie-pracowac-krocej-ministerstwo-pracy-odkrylo-karty,111756.html
- https://autonomy.work/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ICELAND_4DW.pdf
- https://autonomy.work/portfolio/uk4dwpilotresults/
