It is planned to test the four-day working week system with a pilot project planned to be started next year in Germany. In this system, working time will be shortened, but efficiency and wages will remain the same
It is planned to test the four-day working week system with a pilot project to be launched in Germany. Companies will be able to apply for the project, which will be implemented by the consultancy firm Intraprenör in Berlin, as of Thursday. It is aimed for at least 50 companies to participate in the project to test Intraprenör’s four-day working week system.
During the project, companies will be able to consult experts, try new methods and exchange views with each other. At the end of the project, the results are expected to be evaluated by the University of Münster.
In the project, which is planned for six months, a 100 percent efficiency, 80 percent working time, 100 percent payment model will be applied. In other models that are on the agenda for working four days a week, it is envisaged that the wages paid along with the working time will be reduced. Some small businesses bring overtime to the agenda while working four days a week. In this project, it is emphasized that while working time is reduced, productivity and wages will remain the same.
Employees want to work four days
In a survey conducted by the Hans Böckler Foundation, the results of which were announced in May, 73 percent of salaried employees stated that they were willing to work four days a week as long as the money they earned remained the same. 17 percent of those surveyed were against working four days a week. Of those who opposed four-day work, 86 percent stated that they enjoyed working, 82 percent were worried that shortening the working time would change the working system, and 77 percent stated that they thought they would not be able to finish their job.
The Medium-Sized Enterprises Association, on the other hand, is far from working four days a week. Secretary General of the Union Christoph Ahlhaus, said that individual solutions between employers and employees may be possible, but they oppose the possible intervention of the state to implement a system that provides full wage payment for working four days a week. Stating that reducing working time may lead to a decrease in productivity, Ahlhaus argued that businesses will suffer before and everyone will suffer afterwards.
Germany’s largest union, IG Metall, which brings together industrial workers, is of the opinion that Germany’s competitiveness in the metal and electronics industry should be taken into account in discussions about a four-day work week. In an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung at the weekend, IG Metall President Jörg Hofmann said that the four-day working week model will not be on IG Metall’s list of demands in the collective agreement negotiations to be held next year, and that this is a “long-term issue”. IG Metall wants weekly working hours to be reduced from 35 to 32.
The project was previously implemented in England
Intrarprenör will carry out the project, which is planned to be implemented from the beginning of next year, together with 4 Day Week Global, a non-governmental organization working to introduce a four-day working week in different countries of the world.
The same project was previously implemented in England. The companies produced a positive balance sheet at the end of the project. 56 of the 61 companies participating in the project in England stated that they would continue the four-day working week system. During the trial period, the rate of employees receiving sick leave decreased by 65 percent, while the rate of employees leaving their jobs decreased by 57 percent. According to the analysis made by experts from Boston and Cambridge, an average increase of 1.4 percent in the companies’ turnover was recorded during the trial period.