Less than 1% of Belgian workers are employed under the four-day week regime, two years after the implementation of the employment deal, according to a survey published Thursday by HR expert Acerta Consult, based on data from 21,000 employers and 220,000 workers.
Since November 20, 2022, as part of the employment deal, a worker can complete a full-time contract in four days instead of five. Today, 0.75% of Belgian workers employed on permanent contracts in the private sector work under this regime. This represents an increase of 24% compared to 2023. Compared to 2021, before the jobs deal, this is even an increase of 63%.
Currently, the system is used in 2.75% of Belgian companies, including a majority of large companies. For example, 22.7% of companies with 200 to 500 workers have at least one employee under the four-day week regime. For establishments with more than 500 workers, this figure rises to 36%.
How to explain it?
“The fact that this regime is more likely to be imposed in large companies is explained by the fact that it is easier to ensure continuity. It is also more obvious to manage everything administrative there,” explains Olivier Marcq, legal expert at Acerta Consult.
The system is also slightly more popular among workers (0.95%) than among employees (0.64%).
This four-day week “doesn’t really seem feasible for all jobs and in all sectors. Workers don’t seem to want to adopt this pace either,” notes Olivier Marcq. “For now, the added value of the system lies more in the safety net it offers workers to arrange their working week differently, if they wish,” he adds.
