The Portuguese Government intends to proceed with a pilot project of a 4-day working week, following in the footsteps of other countries testing, such as Iceland and Sweden.
The Government say they have several companies already interested, but have not yet indicated which 4-day week model it intends to follow. Ana Mendes Godinho, Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security says, “we want to lead the discussion at a global level” and “think outside the box”.
From today in the UK, Monday 6th June, a pilot project begins to test the effects of the four-day week on the economy and the labour market. More than 70 companies and 3000 workers are participating in the test, from sectors ranging from catering to technology.
Between June and December, participating companies will work just four days a week, with no pay cut - 80% of the time, 100% of salary and hopefully, productivity. The effects on productivity will be monitored by a team of researchers.
The UK is not the first country to come up with such experiments. Iceland and Sweden have already done so, a few years ago, but this UK pilot is the most comprehensive test so far, according to UK newspaper The Guardian. I
Between June and December this year, the companies participating in the UK pilot test will cut the number of working days for their employees, with no reduction in salary and no increase in their daily hours, to compensate. This model is defined as 100% – 80% – 100%, ie 100% pay, 80% of the time, 100% productivity. The research on productivity during the coming test months will be carried out by researchers from the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and Boston College.
In Spain, the introduction of a four-day week is also under discussion, but for a longer period of time – two to three years – and with the State partially subsidizing the companies that participate in the study.
I will be interesting to see if Portugal decide to move forward with the pilot project using a similar model.
