Co - authored by Inês Anjos
The so-called four-day week is an innovative way of organising work that consists of reducing the normal working week without loss of pay.
The model first emerged - in a relatively organised manner - in New Zealand in 2019 and is currently being trialled in different countries, including Spain, Australia, Iceland and Japan.
The four-day week is attractive for both sides of the employment relationship, especially as it heralds advantages or benefits for employees and employers:
i) It promises employees more free time, with corresponding positive impacts in terms of health, well-being and management of life and household economy; and
ii) It assures employers of maintained productivity and competitiveness, along with enhanced public reputation (by promoting ESG goals such as innovation, gender equality and climate efficiency).
However, the four-day week is not without its challenges, as it requires delicate balances that are difficult to achieve or implement. In fact, only a few (and generally more innovative) companies are currently willing to make such a transition, meaning that the sample size does not yet allow for reliable and replicable conclusions. It is also clear that the measure is very difficult to implement in certain sectors, particularly in industry, where other management models have become established within the business fabric.
From a legal point of view, the four-day week is objectively innovative, since the flexible working arrangements currently provided for in the Labour Code (such as concentrated working hours and part-time work) do not allow for a reduction in working hours while maintaining salary levels.
But is it possible to adopt this model in Portugal?
Through Ministerial Order 301/2022 of 20 December, a pilot project was launched to assess the feasibilityof the four-day week in Portugal. Although there was no financial support from the Portuguese State, the pilot, implemented throughout 2023, had technical support from IEFP, I.P., and consultancy from the 4 Day Week Global platform.
The pilot project brought together the (voluntary) participation of around forty companies, covering more than a thousand employees, over a six-month period, with a reduction in the weekly normal working hours to 36 hours (on a reversible basis). The results, published in June 2024, were revealing.
On the company side, there was a reduction in absenteeism levels (by around 45%), an increase in recruitment capacity and employee retention (by around 30%), as well as general operational improvements (i.e. better functioning teams, improved processes, greater efficiency in the use of technology, etc.), with no significant drop in productivity.
On the employees' side, there were increases in physical and mental health levels, with a substantial reduction in the number of employees struggling to reconcile work with family life or work with personal life (from 46% and 50% to 17% and 16%, respectively).
In general terms, the increase in "free time" was welcomed by employees. However, this appreciation was more pronounced in specific segments of the workforce, namely: women (vs men); employees with children (vs employees without children); and lower-paid employees (vs higher-paid employees).
Although there is a natural resistance to organisational change on the part of companies, the pilot project appearsto have demonstrated, if not the viability, the potential of the four-day week in Portugal; indeed, most of the participating companies have abandoned the forty-hour week despite the challenges.
Therefore, rather than imposing or abruptly changing, which is naturally disruptive and possibly counterproductive, companies may find inspiration in the examples tried out in the pilot project, considering gradual transition measures tailored to their business reality and in a spirit of dialogue with their employees and their representatives.
In conclusion, although it cannot be seen as a universal and standardised solution, the four-day week is a real and innovative opportunity to rethink the organisation of work in Portugal. In fact, as more companies - both national and multinational - adopt this model, those entities that are able to do so but choose not to follow this trend will become less attractive to their human resources (in terms of both retention and talent attraction), putting themselves at a disadvantage in an increasingly demanding and competitive labour market.
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