Moving to Portugal news - Does Portugal have a four-day work week?
Portugal has just completed a pilot-project to trial a four-day work week and the results are promising. Portuguese companies that have completed the four-day work week trial state that there are multiple advantages, including retaining talent.
What is the Portuguese four-day work week model?
Portuguese companies that have just completed a 6-month pilot-project to trial a four-day work week each chose the format that would best suit their operation.
Despite the model selected by each Portuguese company that was part of the four-day work week trial, each company followed the "100:80:100 model", that is 100 per cent of the pay for 80 per cent of the time, in exchange for a commitment to maintain 100 per cent productivity.
Currently, 72% of people globally work over 40 hours a week and Portugal has the third longest workweek among OECD countries, according to a report on the four-day work week pilot-project published by the Universities of London and Reading that are helping to oversee the trial. The four-day work week model should therefore revolutionize how the Portuguese work.
The model used for the Portuguese four-day work week pilot-project does not mean working the same way and taking Friday off, even if some companies do follow this model. Most Portuguese companies experimented with flexible models, such as shift work, so that the companies still remained open five days a week.
The model favored by Portuguese companies that were testing the four-day work week is "the fortnight of nine days", that averages 36 working hours where workers alternate a five-day week with a four-day week, since this model does not require a daily increase in working hours.
These innovative companies have noticed multiple advantages, including retaining talent and they have stated that it was not necessary to hire to implement the four-day work week model. The Portuguese companies that implemented the pilot-project came to the conclusion that the idea that companies need to hire 20% more workers to implement this model is a misconception.
The Portuguese companies that were willing to innovate and test the four-day work week model had a larger proportion of women in management positions compared to the national average and employed highly qualified workers.
The 39 Portuguese companies, that were located in 10 districts, included a research institute, a crèche, a day care center, a stem cell bank that works seven days a week, and companies from the social sector, industry as well as commerce.
What is the four-day work week model?
The four-day work week model means that employees receive 100% pay for working 80% of the time while achieving 100% of the productivity targets.
The 100-80-100 principle was developed by the leaders of the organization 4 Day Week Global, Charlotte Lockhart and Andrew Barnes, after they successfully piloted a 4-day week in their own business, Perpetual Guardian, in 2018. The four-day work week model has since then become the international standard to help businesses formulate a fair and flexible pathway to reducing the work time of their employees.
The four-day work week model may solve one of the major problems that many companies are facing, that is how to attract and retain talent.
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