In his general policy speech, Gabriel Attal launched the idea of extending the experiment of the four-day week in public administrations. The Prime Minister spoke of a week “in four days”. What is it about ? What are the advantages, or disadvantages, for both employees and businesses?
For Marie Bouny, doctor of law and partner at the management consulting firm Sia Partners, “there are not only advantages”, the four-day week can lead to “an intensification of the workload”.
franceinfo: To find out what we’re talking about, how to define the four-day week ?
Marie Bouny: This is the possibility for employees to work not five days a week, but four days a week. Afterwards, there are different variations. There can be a four-day week with reduction in working time, without reduction in working time, with reduction in remuneration, without reduction in remuneration. There are lots of possibilities.
Polls today show that there are many French people who are in favor of this system. But if we collect five days of work out of four, with the same volume of work and the same remuneration, the days of work are more important. Are the French and employees really aware of what is behind ?
Indeed, this is one of the subjects. There is an appetite for the four-day week among a certain number of French people, a certain number of surveys highlight this. But there are not only advantages. When there is no reduction in working hours, work is picked up and there is an intensification of the workload: a 36-hour week over four days, that’s 8 hours 45 minutes per day. If we take a one-hour lunch break, that’s 9:45. And we have, on average in France, around 50 minutes of transport time.
“So we leave home at 8 a.m. and come back at 6:45 p.m..”
Marie Bounyon franceinfo
Where are we in France today in this application ?
There are still tests and initiatives, whether in the public service, but also in private companies. A number of organizations are testing the four-day week. Because the primary objective for organizations testing the four-day week is the attractiveness and loyalty of their employees and improving their working conditions. So, often, there are tests and these are voluntary procedures.
Are all employees affected? ?
Potentially, everyone can be affected. There is no inconsistency, no impossibility in principle in being on a four-day week, but afterward, these are decisions. In some companies, do you want to give certain advantages to employees who cannot telework? In this case, we will set up a four-day week only for these employees. In other companies, it’s for everyone, so it varies greatly. It can also be in industry. And in administrations around the world, it is also growing a lot.
But isn’t it easier for a public administration? ?
In any case, it is not necessarily simple. In all cases, it will be necessary to identify the impact on the organization of work and on people’s activity. For example, in an administration, it can have an impact on opening hours for the public. Is it relevant to expand them or not? In an industry, there will inevitably be an impact on the organization of production.
Is the objective to improve the professional and family life of employees or is it also, for companies, an opportunity to make productivity gains? ?
One does not necessarily exclude the other. On the other hand, most organizations still implement it with the aim of improving the working conditions of employees. Post-Covid, we know that the relationship with work has evolved. We know that expectations are higher, we know that we must seek out candidates now. There’s a lot of tension in the job market, so really, that’s the main goal. Afterwards, there is still attention paid to productivity. And the results to date are not clear.
“It’s a bit like teleworking. We don’t know if it improves productivity in the long term.”
Marie Bounyon franceinfo
We sometimes talk about a bell effect, that is to say that for one or two years, there is more productivity, but after that it levels off. And for the four-day week, we don’t necessarily have enough perspective yet.
How does it work abroad ?
There is a truly global trend on the four-day week. Indeed, Iceland was a pioneer in 2015. Then, we were able to have Japan, which is still a country quite known for overwork. And then Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, South Africa, Botswana, the United States, Canada… There are tests and initiatives almost everywhere. Also in Germany and Portugal. The example of the United Kingdom is often presented because 60 companies and 2,900 employees tested it, with very good results. 92% of companies that tested the four-day week adopted it with a reduction in working hours, but without a reduction in remuneration.
Won’t this week in four days push some people to relaunch the debate on working time, particularly on the 35-hour week?
What we must keep in mind is that in France, we have already done the reduction of working hours with the Aubry laws, more than 25 years ago. It is important to keep in mind that a full-time French worker works 230 hours less per year than a full-time worker in the United Kingdom. So we can’t really compare ourselves to the United Kingdom on this dimension.