The legal working time in France has been 35 hours for a little over 20 years. In the majority of cases, these 35 hours are spread over five days, generally Monday to Friday. There are obviously exceptions because some sectors cannot stop on weekends. Moreover, many people still work 39 hours per week and in this case, the employee receives either a higher salary, compensatory time off, or RTT. What about the 4 day work week? Implemented in a few companies in France with the objective of increasing the well-being of employees, but also productivity, it has advantages and disadvantages.
How it works the week of work 4 days?
Concretely, the 4-day week consists, as its name suggests, of working four days a week rather than the usual five, without a reduction in salary. It is an organization of working time which is emerging little by little in France. The objective is to allow employees to benefit from an extra day of rest during the week and therefore to improve well-being at work.
What is the difference with the four-day week? Is it possible to work 35 hours?
In fact, there are two types of 4-day work weeks. There are companies which allow a direct reduction in overall working time per week without a reduction in salary and those which offer to work 35 hours but over 4 days. For this second category, employees work more than before in a day to compensate. This is where the difference between the four-day week and the four-day week is.
What are the benefits and disadvantages of the 4 day week? The arguments for and against
In both cases, one of the advantages is that the employee has an additional free day during the week and this allows for a better balance between personal and professional life. Logically, this increases their motivation, their commitment to the company and their well-being. Specifically in the four-day day, therefore with a reduction in working time but without a reduction in salary, this generates less fatigue and therefore better productivity at work. There is a prioritization of tasks, shorter days and an additional day of rest.
There are also some disadvantages. First, this requires organizational changes throughout the company to be able to adapt everyone’s schedules. Also, in the case where it is a four-day week with an increase in daily working time, this can cause more fatigue among certain employees.
LDLC, Yprema: which companies offer a 4-day week in France?
There are not very many companies in France that have passed the milestone. However, there has been an acceleration with the generalization of teleworking in certain sectors. Some companies are still in the experimentation phase, such as Structa, which manufactures office furniture, or Bizay, a logistics platform. Others have already taken the plunge for good like LDLC, an online business or Yprema, which has been operating like this for more than 20 years. The latter two are very satisfied with this system, which links well-being at work and productivity.
Is a 4-day work week possible in the public function ?
An experiment with the four-day week took place at Urssaf in Picardie for a year but the feedback was not conclusive. Only three agents had opted for this formula, the others having preferred to decline for organizational reasons. However, an experiment with the four-day EN week could be implemented in other administrations. Indeed, during his general policy speech on January 30, the new Prime Minister Gabriel Attal asked all of his ministers “to experiment with this solution in their central and decentralized administrations“. To be continued.
How to put in place the 4-day week in the company?
Setting up the 4-day week takes time. The generalization of this system is the result of discussions and exchanges of ideas between management, social partners and employees.