4-day work week. Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz on the solution

Asked whether, in the context of the worsening demographic situation, introducing a four-day working week is a good solution, Pełczyńska-Nałęcz said: “In my opinion, no.”

– My understanding of responsible politics is that when we have a really serious demographic crisis on the table, talking about a four-day work week is somehow unrealistic, it is telling people about impossible things – she added.

As she pointed out, such a solution was never part of the program of the Poland 2050 party.

– This is something that should not be happening today. However, we should focus on and take care of protecting workers' rights – if people are to work efficiently, they must feel safe at work – she noted.

READ ALSO: Entrepreneurs do not want a 4-day work week >>>

Analyses on the shortened workweek are ongoing at the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy. The head of the ministry, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, indicated that the ministry is analyzing two ideas for shortening working hours: a 35-hour workweek or introducing Fridays off.

– In a relatively good economic situation, with low unemployment and with social expectations from young people in particular, the demand for time for life, time for development, time for family is a demand that must be taken seriously. In the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy, we take it seriously and I believe that it is time to actually shorten the working week to four days in the perspective of perhaps not a month, perhaps not a year, but the next few years – announced the Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk.

Poles work an average of 40.4 hours a week – three hours longer than the EU average and 8 hours longer than the Dutch, who work the shortest hours. Only the Greeks work longer than the Poles, 41 hours a week. These are the data described in the publication of the Polish Economic Institute “Work-life balance and flexible forms of work organization”.

Calls to shorten the working week have intensified in recent years after millions of workers switched to day jobs during the pandemic. remote work and stopped commuting to work, thus saving time and money.

There have been a number of experiments with a four-day week around the world. A similar trial was completed in 2022 USA with 33 companies employing 903 workers. At the time, none of the 27 companies surveyed by 4 Day Week Global said they were inclined to return to a five-day workweek.

Some 97% of 495 workers who responded to voluntary surveys said they wanted the four-day workweek to be maintained.