Previous legislation had less and less of a deterrent effect, but from March this will change fundamentally.Continue reading
PwC Hungary (audit and advisory firm) says that a four-day workweek is not only a work organization issue, but also a cultural one. For years, the company’s management has been trying to provide as flexible a framework as possible, including home office and hybrid working, in response to the needs of colleagues, writes Világgazdaság. The company has decided that from the beginning of June until the end of August, 280 employees will work only Monday to Thursday.
The introduction of the four-day summer workweek, or three-day long weekends during the summer, is intended to help employees recharge and achieve a healthy work-life balance. PwC is implementing the 32-hour summer workweek by using a working time frame and reallocating working hours so that
employees only change their working hours, not their base salary.
For years, the company’s management has been trying to provide as flexible a framework as possible, in line with the needs of colleagues, including the possibility of home offices and hybrid working. They point out that flexibility in working hours is also key for employee retention and recruitment, as confirmed by PwC’s Labor Market Preference Survey 2023.
“Our strategic goal is to enhance the employee experience, to build an attractive, likeable company where there is not only the opportunity for outstanding professional development, but also a great place to belong. We are in constant dialogue with our employees, listening to their feedback and needs. We develop our flexible working arrangements around them, our benefits, training or even the office environment.
This is how our Mental Health program was born in recent years, and how we introduced summer Bermuda days and extended paternity leave, among other things,” stressed László Radványi, head of PwC’s audit business.
Like other firms that have previously implemented a four-day workweek pilot, PwC will continue to monitor, measure, and analyze the impact of the innovation and will then decide whether to continue with it.
The approach is fundamentally different from what the market has seen before, because the company is developing the four-day summer working pattern by reallocating working hours, not reducing them.
Radványi added: “The idea of a four-day working week was also prompted by employee feedback in order to improve work-life balance and meet changing employee expectations. That is why we decided to go for it and we are confident that four-day summer working weeks will also help us to recharge ‘our batteries’ and maintain our physical and mental health balance.”
Magyar Telekom launched its pilot program to test the four-day working week in the summer of 2022. According to the company, some of its employees managed to complete their tasks without any problems during the more intensive four-day period, but it became clear that most of them could not work effectively in this model due to the nature of their work or their life situation. The company concluded that running four and five days in parallel would pose business risks in the long term.
Via Világgazdaság; Featured image via Facebook/PwC Hungary
