Portugal: 4-day week in the public sector should start with posts with the highest number of absences – 05/29/2023 – Market

The pilot project of the four-day week in the public sector in Portugal should start with organizations with the highest rate of absenteeism and where work is more flexible. This is one of the conclusions that can be drawn from the analysis carried out by the Center for Planning, Policies and Prospective Public Administration (PlanAPP) of the reports of various entities that have followed the ongoing experiences in countries such as Scotland, Ireland or Iceland. .

The Portuguese government has a pilot project underway for the four-day week in 46 companies in the private sector, which will start in June and will cover around 2,000 workers, and has promised to advance in the public sector as well. However, so far, the contours of what will happen in public administration are still unknown, nor which services may be covered.

For now, the study “Four-day week — Literature review and pilot studies”, by Ana Oliveira, Gonçalo Marçal and César Madureira, gives some clues about the way in which other countries are applying these experiences in the public sector.

From the outset, they conclude, pilot projects should involve workers in the reorganization of working time and process changes. And, if there are conditions to move forward, membership should be voluntary and “start in organizations/departments where the tasks performed are relatively homogeneous, eventually where the rate of absenteeism of workers is higher and where the provision of work is flexible [permitindo o teletrabalho, por exemplo]”.

In the case of public service agencies, there must be “a detailed plan on how to guarantee the same contract period and how to optimize internal processes”.

The study now released by PlanAPP surveys the various projects implemented in various countries. In the public sector, only one finished and evaluated was identified, in Utah, United States.

In this case, 18,000 civil servants were covered (out of a total of 25,000) who started to work 40 hours in four days. In this example, there was no wage reduction and the pilot project, which lasted three years, ended up being interrupted due to political issues.

The evaluation of this experience concluded that energy consumption was reduced by 10%, especially in activities that used natural gas, and fuel consumption decreased, equivalent to savings of US$ 1.4 million. In addition to these savings, 80% of workers reported being satisfied with the new schedule, considering that they had become more productive; overtime pay decreased, resulting in savings of $4.1 million; and the quality of services was not found to have improved or deteriorated.

Other ongoing projects are also identified, in relation to which there are still no results, namely in the Philippines (since 2019, most public bodies have concentrated the 40 hours a week in four days), in Ireland (which has an ongoing national campaign to the adoption of the four-day week in public and private) and in Scotland.

Iceland, which is often given as an example in this area, did not test the reduction of the working week from five to four days, but the reduction of the number of hours worked from 40 to 35 or 36 hours a week, something that already happens in the public sector in Portugal.

Even so, the authors of the study consider that one should look at the Icelandic project, which took place between 2015 and 2019, in particular for the choice of bodies and the way in which they adapted internally to the reduction in the normal working period.

The first project was initially implemented in two departments of the Reykjavík City Council, chosen because they associated a high level of stress, and, in a second moment, a second project was launched in the Central Administration, covering the Tax Authority, the Foreigners and Borders, the police, records and notary and, in a final phase, a hospital.

The reported results account for an adjustment in the way tasks were carried out, with shorter meetings or rearranging shifts; there was a slight increase in the number of overtime hours (three hours per worker, on average); workers reported a decrease in family stress; and men say they started to contribute more to household chores.

Making public employment more attractive

Ana Oliveira, Gonçalo Marçal and César Madureira also note that, in general, the diversification of work organization models can improve the attractiveness of employment in the public sector and the motivation of workers.

In addition to the advantages related to the reduction of working time, implementing the four-day week could “increase the recruitment and retention capacity” of the public sector, the document reads.

But measures in this scope “cannot be alien to the evolution of work in public functions and the characteristics of its workers”.

The authors reflect on the challenges that public administration currently faces. First of all, the loss of purchasing power seen over the last two decades and the perception on the part of workers that the Integrated Public Administration Performance Assessment System (SIADAP) is “lack of transparency, demotivating and unfair, constituting itself as the main cause for the progressively slower progression in careers”.

At the same time, the attractiveness of work in public administration “has been decreasing remarkably”. “The low salaries offered at the beginning of a career (net salary below 1,000 euros) combined with a performance evaluation system that tends to prolong the waiting time for access to career progression seem to be the main ingredients for the difficulty in recruiting external”, advance the authors.

The accelerated aging of Portuguese public administration workers is another challenge identified.

Recognizing the difficulty in outlining a strategy for motivating State workers, the authors of the study underline that “the improvement and diversification of work organization models may perhaps contribute to reconciling work/family/personal life, an important factor greatest for any worker”.

And it is in this context that they consider it pertinent to evaluate existing organizational models (such as flexible hours or continuous working hours) in public administration and others that may be created.