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The Ordinance on the "Four-Day Workweek" pilot programme was approved. The aim of the programme is to allow employers and their workers to implement a four-day workweek regime on a trial basis.
Who is the pilot programme aimed at?
All employers and respective workers that wish to participate on a voluntary basis.
The entities participating in the pilot programme must be subject to an assessment before, during and after the programme, based on company-related parameters, namely those relating to productivity and intermediate costs, and employee-related parameters, such as health and well-being. Such assessment will be carried out in accordance with a methodology to be defined by the team in charge of coordinating the pilot programme.
How will it be implemented?
The Instituto do Emprego e da Formação Profissional, I.P., (IEFP, I.P., in the Portuguese acronym) will be in charge of implementing and managing the pilot programme, by appointing an executive coordinator in coordination withBirkbeck University of London. Such executive coordinator will be responsible for appointing a scientific coordinator and the respective team that will assist in the preparation of information, awareness and dissemination contents, as well as the design of data collection and analysis tools necessary for the implementation of the pilot programme, and the respective reports.
The 4 Day Week Global Foundation will also be responsible for providing technical support to the employers participating in the pilot programme, based on its own using its own methodologies.
The pilot programme is implemented through the execution of technical and financial cooperation agreements between IEFP, I.P., the Birkbeck University of London and the 4 Day Week Global Foundation.
As part of the implementation of the pilot programme, each cooperation agreement shall define the terms and conditions for its implementation, namely:
- The pilot programme implementation model;
- How employers and their workers will participate;
- The entities’ communication and awareness-raising plan;
- The planning, implementation and activities to be developed;
- The parties’ obligations;
- The programme’s monitoring and follow-up model;
- The charges framework and respective funding.
When will it start?
The programme will be launched in 2023 and will assess the implementation of the four-day workweek, with the corresponding reduction in working hours, without any salary reduction.
What are the objectives of this pilot programme?
This programme has the following objectives:
- To assess new ways of organising and balancing working time, so as to take account of workers' interests, and to reduce business operating and environmental costs;
- To assess the impact that the reduction of working time, without any salary reduction, has on the quality of life of workers and their families;
- To assess the effects on productivity, on the quality of the services rendered and on absenteeism.