Four-day week

What is the four-day week?

The four-day week, initiated in France by a law of Pierre Larrouturou in 1993, is an innovative approach to work organisation that is gaining popularity worldwide.

It consists of reducing the traditional five-day work week to just four days, without necessarily reducing employees' pay. This transition is part of the broader Future of Work, which aims to rethink the way we work and adapt it to the changing needs of society and businesses.

What are the advantages for employees?

For employees, the four-day week offers an attractive prospect. Indeed, it allows them to gain a day of rest during the week, thus creating a better balance between professional and personal life. But that's not all, the results published by the 4 Day Week association show:

• A reduction in stress for 39% of employees
• A 71% decrease in burn-out
• A 65% drop in the sick leave rate

In addition, this approach can lead to better productivity, improved social conditions (more well-being and cohesion) and a reduction in the unemployment rate, by creating new jobs to compensate for the reduction in working hours.

What are the advantages for companies?

Companies that adopt the four-day week often see an increase in employee productivity. By reducing the time spent at work, employees tend to be more focused and better manage their time. This can result in increased results and reduced costs. The association indicates that companies' turnover remained stable or sometimes slightly increased.

With employees feeling better in the company thanks to a reduction in stress in particular, the employee departure rate has decreased by an average of 57%, thus showing improved well-being.

4 tips for switching to a four-day week

1. Identify the needs of stakeholders: employees, managers, CSE, etc. This is the time to understand their expectations and fears about their job and workload, in order to determine the best organisation for this reduced work week.
2. Rethink the company's processes to adapt them to a four-day week, whether with customers, internally or between each department (for example on customer relations or the production activity of a product).
3. Carry out a test phase which will make it possible to see the elements which need to be improved, stopped or put in place. This phase can initially be carried out on a sample of employees.
4. Monitor the metrics to verify that this new organisation is working. This involves checking the absenteeism rate, burn-out rate and turnover rate, which should all decrease. Conversely, employee satisfaction and productivity should increase.

A model that attracts

The four-day work arrangement is a topical issue that attracts more and more employees and companies around the world, given the various advantages above and the experiments that are taking place all over the place: Spain, Iceland, England, etc. This is also the case in France and the public sector, which is testing this work organisation throughout the country, such as in Lyon and Strasbourg on a voluntary basis.

In summary

The four-day work week is being implemented in more and more companies to be tested. It offers considerable advantages to employees and companies such as a reduction in stress and fatigue. The transition to this reduced week illustrates how the organisation of work is evolving to meet the changing needs of employees while promoting a more balanced professional future.