Study: Limiting 4 working days per week improves the employee’s mental and physical health

Mark
Written By Mark

Limiting the working days per week to 4 days reduces the stress experienced by employees and leads to a slight increase in their productivity, according to a report presented on Friday on the impact of adopting this formula in Germany.

For 6 months, 41 German companies participated in a program launched by the “Intrapreneur” company, which aims to reduce working hours, or even limit themselves to 4 working days per week, which is a historical demand of unions in Germany.

The University of Münster and the international initiative “4 Day Week Global” also participated in coordinating the project, which now includes 8 countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, and Portugal.

The main conclusion reached by the German study was that the 4-day work week without any change in the number of working hours per week ensures a “significant” improvement in the employee’s mental and physical health.

This was monitored for 6 months using smart watches, hair samples and self-assessment.

The study highlighted that this finding contradicts “the idea that having to complete the workload in less time can lead to an increase in the stress felt by the employee.”

On average, participants experienced 178 minutes less stress during the week compared to 191 minutes before the experiment began.

They exercised more and slept an average of 38 minutes more each week.

The researchers expected that these “positive effects” on health would lead to a “long-term reduction in absenteeism from work.”

Those included in the study considered that their productivity had increased slightly, but their workload had not changed at the same time.

But the study was cautious on the issue of productivity, and pointed to other limitations.

For example, the 4-day workweek has not been proven to increase a company’s profits, or reduce sick leave or its carbon footprint.

However, after the experiment, 39 percent of companies decided to adopt a 4-day work week, while 34 percent reported that they would continue the experiment.

Between 10 and 50 employees work in more than half of the companies included in the study, in the services, manufacturing or construction sectors.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, working 4 days a week has become an ongoing topic of discussion in Germany.

This issue was one of the most prominent demands of the Train Drivers Union during its dispute with the national railway company, Deutsche Bahn, last March.

Steel industry unions also put forward this demand, but agreed with employers in December on a “collective” reduction in working hours from 35 to 32 hours, with partial salary compensation.