Poland launches pilot program to reduce working hours. Some Ukrainian IT companies switch to a four-day workweek for the summer. Is such a workweek model possible in Ukraine at the state level? Yes, but not during a war.
Poland launches pilot program to reduce working hours. Some Ukrainian IT companies switch to a four-day workweek for the summer. Is such a workweek model possible in Ukraine at the state level? Yes, but not during a war.
The State Employment Service says that switching to a four-day workweek is out of the question during wartime, but it is possible in peacetime.
" It would be strange to talk about Ukraine's transition to a four-day work week during the war. Ukrainians are either in the army or for the army. The labor market has also switched to military rails, a special law "On the Organization of Labor Relations under Martial Law" has been adopted. Holidays during the war are considered ordinary working days, without double pay or compensation for additional rest. And it is possible to involve people in work on weekends during the war without the consent of the trade union. The maximum weekly working hours are up to 60 instead of the usual 40 hours. But in peacetime, talk about switching to a four-day work week is possible," the state agency notes .
In addition, in Ukraine, a four-day work week is not provided for at the legislative level. According to the Labor Code, the standard is 40 hours per week. This time can be reduced for minors, people with disabilities or by agreement with the employer. In addition, under martial law, the working week is increased to 60 hours at certain critical infrastructure facilities.
"For now, a four-day work week in Ukraine is possible in the format of local agreements," the civil service adds.
In general, the experience of countries that have implemented a shortened workweek model in certain industries suggests that such a schedule is best suited for the IT sector, creative and analytical professions, and pay-for-performance industries.
Some Ukrainian IT companies are switching to a four-day schedule in the summer, including YouScan , which has been implementing this format for the third year in a row. Atola Technology decided to try such a schedule for the first time this year. For the company, the war was the main trigger for the experiment.
Danylo Hetmantsev, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, decided to conduct a survey on his Telegram channel to investigate whether Ukrainians support reducing the workweek to 4 days, provided that the workweek is 40 hours.
At the time of publication, 1,445 people took part in the survey, of which the majority (53%) answered "yes", 35% of respondents did not support it, and only 12% answered that they did not care.
