Second city introduces 35-hour working week for employees

This month, the city administration in the Polish city, Włocławek, is introducing a 35-hour week for its employees. It is the second city to do so, following Leszno, which cut working hours for local authority workers in July.

In both cases, the cut is from the previous 40-hour week and has been introduced with no loss of pay. Although both local authorities are relatively small — Włocławek has 100,000 inhabitants and Leszno 58,000 — they are an indication of a move to shorter hours which the Polish government has said is coming.

This promise was reinforced in an interview with the labour minister, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bak, last month, who again said that the government was examining whether a four-day week or a reduction to a seven-hour working day was a better option.

“Obviously, if we decide to make changes to the labour code, that will become binding on all workers in the country, including in public administration”, she added, describing the plan as “a revolutionary change”, which will allow Poles “more time for their passions, family and love”.

• Poland is not the only country where the government is aiming to cut the working week.

There are also active negotiations in Spain between the unions, employers and the government on how to deliver the government’s promise to move from a 40- to a 37.5-hour week by 2025 (see Labour Research, August 2024, page 8).