France has recently introduced plans for a four-day work week, with a unique focus on divorced parents who share child custody. This initiative, set to commence in September, aims to allow civil servants with specific custody arrangements to work for four days instead of the standard five. Gabriel Attal, the 35-year-old Prime Minister of France, has been an advocate for experimenting with the four-day workweek and initially introduced this concept when he served as the country's budget minister. His vision entails longer office hours on working days to ensure that the total working hours do not fall below the mandated 35 hours.
There are plans to expand this system to encompass the entire French workforce, although the specifics regarding whether the reduced hours will become permanent or if they will be compensated by longer workdays remain unclear. Additionally, Attal has proposed other economic reforms, such as revisions to the minimum wage system and tax cuts for the middle class.
France has a pressing need for greater flexibility among co-parents—an estimated half a million children (or 12% of the total) in the country switch between their parents every week, the outlet reported.
Studies have shown that children of separated parents can negatively impact their standard of living, according to a French demographic study institute INED. The new four-day system could help by accommodating parents’ schedules so they can spend more time with their children while working their regular jobs.
The plan is up for discussion at a government seminar next week.
Four-day work week across Europe
The appetite for a four-day workweek in France has been picking up for years—at the turn of the century, it introduced a 35-hour week. Since then, the needle has been shifting among the French who’ve been warming up to the idea of fewer days at work. Roughly 10,000 workers are already working four-day weeks, Le Monde reported.
There are big benefits to be had—one French company, LDLC, tried out the compressed week and saw that turnover was up 40% without needing to hire additional talent, according to the World Economic Forum.
Some of France’s European neighbors have had a few years’ head start. Belgium, for instance, introduced a reform that gave people the right to work four days instead of five. Several other countries, including the U.K. and Iceland, have all piloted a shorter work week and have seen overwhelmingly positive results. Employees said they were less burnt out and more productive under the new system.
Germany launched a trial of the program earlier this year.