LPolls indicate that a majority of French people are in favor of a four-day week. Since the Covid-19 crisis and the rise of teleworking, this trend also concerns the public service. According to a study by Sens du service publique with OpinionWay from March 2023, 79% of public officials would be inclined to offer a four-day week to those who cannot telework.
A leitmotif is emerging, according to which, to strengthen its attractiveness, the civil service must promote the four-day week in order to allow more individualization of work organizations. This assertion, however, raises questions, sometimes quickly dismissed, but also maintains the confusion between the four-day, thirty-two-hour week, therefore with a reduction in weekly working time, and the four-day, thirty-five-hour week, therefore with an increase in daily working hours.
Since the beneficial effects of the four-day week are supposed to be numerous (reduction in travel times, increased freedom in managing one’s schedule, more time for oneself), the civil service must experiment with it . It is already being tested, notably in certain hospitals or certain local authorities. It turns out, through these experiments, that by freeing up a day without reducing the weekly working time, the time span of the working day is increased by almost two hours. However, extending the daily working hours of certain professions can be more difficult than one might suppose. The daily intensification of the workload can have effects on fatigue and the number of accidents. In addition, the increase in daily hours can cause difficulties in reconciling the constraints of private life (childcare) with professional life.
Consequences on collective harmony
For public services which must guarantee the continuity of their operation, “off” days common to all employees, that is to say days when services are closed, are impossible. Therefore, the four-day week can have serious consequences for the cohesion of teams which, mathematically, work less closely together, especially when combined with teleworking. We do not yet have sufficient perspective on these experiences to appreciate the effects of the reduction in interactions between colleagues. However, we note that concentrating the workload on a smaller number of days requires reviewing the ways of working (shortened duration of meetings, simplified decision-making processes, etc.) and extending the daily working time, but also revising and to enrich the missions of the agents.
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