Slow take-up for four-day working week

A Belgian scheme allowing employees to reorganise their full-time job from five eight-hour days to four longer 9.5 hour days has not been a great success, according to a study by Belgian human resources specialists Acerta Consult.

The "Deal for Jobs" launched in November 2022 and allows flexible working and compressed hours, with the employer’s agreement.

Only 0.75% of private sector workers have opted for this working pattern and 2.75% of companies have applied it to at least some of their staff this year, according to the research based on data from 21,000 employees and 220,000 workers on permanent full-time contracts.

However, flexible working arrangements have risen by 24% more than in 2023 and 63% since 2021, before the Deal for Jobs was introduced, Acerta said.

Figures for July 2024 in the study showed there is a slight difference between blue-collar (0.95%) and white collar (0.64%) workers who have opted for compressed hours.

“The fact that the scheme is slightly more popular with blue-collar workers is not so surprising, as the four-day scheme was already being used before the Deal for Jobs in certain situations,” said Olivier Marcq, legal expert at Acerta Consult.

“Since then, the deal has extended this possibility to all sectors, but it doesn’t really seem feasible for all jobs and in all sector,” said Marcq.

He said that although, for some workers, the four-day week can be a real solution to achieve a better work-life balance, for others, a four-day week just represents more work.

For employers too, there is more red tape involved as the four-day system it is only valid for six months at a time and each demand needs a written response.

In practice, only large companies are able to organise the working week into four days and manage the extra administrative aspects, the research found.

However, in Belgium, small and medium-sized businesses represent about 96% of all companies, said Matthieu Dewèvre, employment and labour market advisor at the UCM union's research department.

The four-day week is proposed in 36% of companies with more than 500 employees, and 22.7% for firms with 200-500 staff. But this rate falls below 6% for companies employing fewer than 50 people, he said.

Taking up the four day a week option, “would mean closing the business for one day a week, and that would be near enough unthinkable,” one Namur business owner told RTBF.

“In small businesses, everyone is essential all of the time. In the majority of cases, the absence of even just one member of staff can hinder the smooth running of the business.”

Belgium is not the only country that is considering options to replace the traditional 38-hour week. Portugal and France are piloting schemes including a 36-hour week over four days and general closure days where all staff do not work.