These Are the Best EU Countries to Move to If You Want a 4-day Working Week in 2024

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Belgium and Iceland are among the countries that have already had the four-day working week in practice, and it was quite welcomed by workers.
• Some countries like France, Denmark and the Netherlands might not legally have four-day workweeks but have some of the shortest working weeks.
• Germany, Spain and Portugal are on a trial and are likely to introduce 4-day workweeks.

In recent years, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns it imposed, the work-life balance is taking centre stage. More people are increasingly pursuing ways to make work as convenient as possible, with many of them opting for remote work or searching for the opportunity to work shorter workweeks.

For those who plan to move to any European country in 2024 here is a list of the top EU destinations that are leading the way for a balanced professional life and that apply four-day working weeks.

Belgium

The law that allows Belgian workers to complete the work hours in four days per week, instead of five, was passed in November 2022, making Belgium the latest European country to apply this schedule.

Belgian Prime Minister Alex de Croo noted that the goal of such a law was to give people and companies more freedom to arrange their work time.

According to a survey conducted by HR service company Acerta, the proportion of staff that have taken up the new work route has increased to 56.5 per cent since it was introduced. Employees work either 9.5 hours a day for a 38-hour workweek, or ten hours a day to meet the 40-hour workweek requirement.

For those who have taken up the shorter workweek, 77.6 per cent say they have done so to have more room for their private lives, 36.5 per cent to reduce their workload, and 29.3 per cent to spend more time with their children.

Iceland

While Belgium is the most recent country to introduce four-day working weeks in the EU, Iceland is the country that practises it the most, even on an international level.

According to a Forbes article published last year, almost 90 per cent of Icelandic workers have reduced working hours to fit them into a four-day week. This country had one of the world’s largest and longest trials for this work practice, which lasted between 2015 and 2019.

Researchers found that worker stress and burnout lessened and there was an improvement in life-work balance, but other Scandinavian countries, like Sweden, have not shared the same success as Iceland.

France

The practice has been increasingly common for businesses in France, although it has not legally been enforced by the authorities.

Implementing a four-day workweek in this European country can be related to the fact that France introduced a 35-hour workweek in law more than two decades ago, and it is more likely to never change again.

The French Labour Ministry further confirms these claims, saying around 10,000 workers in the country already work a four-day week.

Lithuania

Although the government has not officially enforced a four-day workweek in Lithuania, it enacted legislation in 2021 that enables parents with young children to work only 32 hours a week, which indicates that this category of workers is already working a four-day week’s worth of hours.

According to the results of a poll commissioned by the LRT public broadcaster, 51 per cent of respondents say they would approve a four-day workweek, 35 per cent were against and another 14 per cent had no opinion on the matter.

While women and young people under 30 as well as people from 30 to 49 age group support the idea, workers over 50 and non-working pensioners were more likely to oppose the proposal.

Denmark & the Netherlands

These two countries might not be legally implementing the four-day workweek but they have some of the shortest working weeks. The average workweek in the Netherlands is 29 hours long – the shortest working week in Europe and enables workers to work 4 days per week, depending on arrangements.

Denmark also has a shorter workweek, with workers required to complete 33 hours of work in a week. This would be the equivalent of just over eight hours a day, for four days, or a half day on Friday.

Germany, Spain & Portugal

These three countries are still on trial for the four-day workweek, with the Spanish government agreeing to a agreeing to a 32-hours workweek over three years, while workers will be paid the same amount.

Germany, which has 34.2 hours as the average working week, has also entered a trial period, mainly initiated by trade unions that have been calling for reduced working hours.

According to a Forsa survey, 71 per cent of people working in Germany would like to have the option to only work four days a week.

Over three-quarters of respondents said they are supportive of the government to explore the potential introduction of a four-day week. Employers have also supported this, with two out of three employers supporting this.

Portugal is also one of the recent nations that have gone on a trial for a four-day workweek. In June, a six-month trial started involving 39 corporate businesses.

The majority of Portuguese workers (three-quarters) work more than 40 hours per week so the new measure is expected to relax the workload on workers but can also impact productivity greatly.

Pros & Cons

According to 4DayWeek, introducing a four-day working week is a positive decision for workers, as it has significantly more benefits than disadvantages.

The website says that hundreds of companies that have participated in four-day week pilots have found out that productivity increases, costs reduce, and there are more job applicants.

Another advantage of a four-day week is that it attracts better job candidates and increases employee retention. Subsequently, absenteeism is reduced.

By applying a four-day workweek, employers contribute to better gender equality, increased diversity and inclusivity. It also enables employees to upskill – which would help the company’s productivity to increase by 25 per cent to account for the lost day.

One of the disadvantages can be that the four-day workweek is not for everyone, and some industries cannot apply it.