Portugal: how companies successfully experimented with a four-day week Quality of life at work After a year of experimentation, a number of Portuguese companies have adopted the four-day week. They are seeing productivity levels maintained as well as an improvement in employee commitment and loyalty, and a reduction in the number of absences, thanks in particular to a better work-life balance. To achieve these results, companies have had to adapt their working methods.
Netherlands: guide published to combat sexual harassment and violence in the workplace Quality of life at work Mariëtte Hamera, the Dutch government’s commissioner responsible for gender-based harassment and sexual violence, has published a new guide to help companies “create a safe working environment”…
France: RATP seeks to improve attractiveness with QWL innovations Quality of life at work RATP, the urban transport operator employing 65,000 people, is experimenting with new measures, including the four-day week, new working rhythms and the deployment of exoskeletons in maintenance workshops. Formalised in an agreement on quality of life at work signed on 21 February, the aim of this push is to improve working conditions, meet employees' aspirations in terms of work-life balance and improve its employer brand.
United Kingdom: occupational health taskforce launched Quality of life at work On 21 February, the UK government unveiled the Occupational Health Taskforce, which is being launched to reduce occupational illness,…
France: flexibility still a priority for employees (survey) Quality of life at work Work-life balance and the quest for autonomy in the workplace are top priorities for French workers. These are the findings of this year’s annual Great Insights survey of over 4,000 employees,…
Italy: aerospace and defence group Leonardo trials shorter working hours Quality of life at work An agreement signed by Leonardo with the FIOM-Cgil, FIM-Cisl and UILM trade unions paves the way for a reduction in working hours of 12 hours a month without any reduction in pay for technical and manual staff working on site. The agreement, which will apply to the group's 31,000 employees in Italy, also includes improvements in terms of work-life balance and benefits in kind.
United Kingdoms: employers divided between returning to the office and maintaining telework Quality of life at work While consultant EY is now monitoring its employees' badges to check that they are sticking to their set working days at the office, a study by arbitration service Acas shows that 30% of the country's employers opted instead to increase remote working time in 2023. Proof that, on the eve of the introduction of a right to flexibility in the workplace from the moment of recruitment, the UK is in the grip of a double movement between "working from home" and "the office".
United Kingdom: two in 10 employees affected by burn-out (study) Quality of life at work Some 20% of employees missed work last year due to stress, according to ‘The Burnout Report‘…
Free Looking back at 2023: four-day week gains momentum Quality of life at work First tested on a large scale in Iceland in 2015, the concept of the four-day week moved up a gear in 2023. Experiments continued around the world under the impetus of the 4 Days Week Global association, but above all, for the first time, it was enshrined in the Belgian Labour Code.
Portugal: 95% satisfaction rate among companies to test four-day week Quality of life at work The initial results of Portugal's four-day week trial, published on 12 December, show high levels of satisfaction among both participating companies and the employees concerned. The experiment resulted in a 13.7% reduction in weekly working hours, from 39.3 to 34 hours per week.
