Portugal has taken what could be the first steps towards making a four-day working week a reality. As part of Portugal's 2022 State Budget, a proposal to study and debate new labour organisation models, including a four-day working week in Portugal, has been approved. So, could a four-day working week soon be a reality in Portugal? Or is it simply a dream? We have the details.
In a special vote on the Portuguese State Budget for 2022 (OE2022), taking place in the Budget and Finance Committee in Parliament, the majority of Portuguese political parties pledged to consider a shorter working week. The approved initiative states that "the Government should promote the study and construction of a pilot programme to analyse and test new models of work organisation, including the four-day week in different sectors and the use of hybrid models of face-to-face work and working from home".
The proposal for a shorter working week in Portugal also states that the Executive should promote "a wide national debate and social consultation on new models of work organisation, including the four-day working week, as a way to promote a better balance between work and personal and family life".
In an initial proposal, LIVRE, Portugal's eco-socialist political party, proposed that the Government should promote "the study and construction of a programme that aims to test the 30-hour working week, in four days of work, to be implemented from 2023 and over three years, in a set of up to 100 national companies that sign up to it". However, the party replaced that initiative with the one that has been approved.
So, will there be a four-day work week in the future? Watch this space!