Four-day week is not breaking through among Belgian companies

With a four-day week, people with a full-time contract work all their hours in four days instead of five days. Only 0.75 percent of employees work under that regime. That is an increase of 24 percent compared to the end of 2023 and an increase of 63 percent compared to three years ago, when the Labor Deal was not yet in force. The system is slightly more popular among blue-collar workers (0.95 percent) than among white-collar workers (0.64 percent).

In 2.75 percent of companies, (some) employees already use the full-time four-day working week. This is slightly more than at the end of last year, when the regime was in use in 2.38 percent of companies. The system is particularly popular in larger companies, with more than fifty employees. “The fact that the regime is more likely to be adopted in large companies can be explained by the fact that it is easier to ensure continuity in those companies,” says Liesbeth Goethals, legal expert at Acerta Consult. “It is also more obvious to process everything administratively, because the four-day regime requires an extra administrative effort for employer and employee.”

In addition to the four-day week, the Labor Deal also provided for the right to disconnect for employees and the obligation for companies to draw up a training plan for their employees before March 31 each year. “Since the Labor Deal, we have already supported more than 150 companies with an approach regarding the right to disconnection,” says Goethals. “Since then we have also supported around 250 companies in creating a compliant training plan. It shows that companies are paying significantly more attention to lifelong learning and workable work through the legislation.”