35-hour work week. In Włocławek, it is no longer supposed to be “just” an experiment

The Mayor of Włocławek has decided that from September, City Hall employees will work reduced hours. How will this be organized? The Mayor of Włocławek, Krzysztof Kukucki, said on TOK FM that employees had two options to choose from – a seven-hour workday and a shortened workweek with a longer weekend. The votes were split almost 50-50, and the five-day system was decided by a majority of a dozen votes with 400 employees.

Shorter working week in Włocławek

The president also said that he had agreed with employees that a shortened work system would be tested for four months at the beginning of next year. In this case, officials will also work “zipper” – some from Monday to Thursday, and others from Tuesday to Friday.

Just a few weeks ago, the reduction of working hours was described as an experiment, but now the president admits that it will be the final solution.

– I believe that this is the final solution that will be in force in our country in a few years. This is not a fabrication. I look at the comments, both favorable and unfavorable. But it was the same before 1918, when the left talked about the need to introduce an 8-hour workday, and it was very similar when the decision was made in 1972 to introduce a free Saturday. It is always something new, and it is always accompanied by a certain fear. Later, it turns out that this fear has big eyes, and the solutions serve employees well – said Kukucki.

The President of Włocławek pointed out that in Poland over 15 million people are employed full-time, and that as a nation, Poles work long hours and are chronically overworked.

Shorter working hours can also be an incentive for candidates. We wrote that Poles are not eager to work in offices. The reason is primarily the salaries, but the possibility of shorter work – while maintaining full salary and all benefits – could be an incentive to take up employment.