019 February 2022

Belgium agrees on a four-day working week to “give workers more freedom”

The Belgian government has reached an agreement on labour market reform that includes the possibility of concentrating the working week into four days or making working hours more flexible to “give workers more freedom”, as the Belgian prime minister, Alexander De Croo, said at a press conference.

This agreement aims to make the labour market more flexible so that Belgium can reach an employment rate of 80% by 2030. According to the country’s public television (RTBF), it currently stands at 71% and shows “strong regional disparities”.

De Croo explained that they have taken into account lessons learned during the pandemic, where compulsory teleworking has been strongly recommended and has led employees to seek new work-life balance situations.

Right to disconnect and progress on work-life balance

In addition, the deputy prime minister and head of Economy and Employment, the socialist Pierre-Yves Dermagne, has indicated on Twitter that the pact contains “concrete advances for all workers”, such as reinforcing the right to training, better-protecting workers on digital platforms such as Uber or Deliveroo, and providing more guarantees for reconciling professional and family life, thus boosting employment.

In this line, one of the main measures of the agreement is that workers can choose to concentrate their working hours in four days a week to enjoy a day off on the fifth day. Employees will also opt for a variable weekly regime, working longer hours one week and having more time off the next.

Another aspect is the extension of the right to disconnection outside working hours so that workers are not under “pressure to respond to messages or e-mails”.

The worker must request these working arrangements seven working days in advance in both cases. The Belgian press has described this agreement favouring flexible working hours as “interesting in co-parenting situations”. In the case of redundancies, people who have given or received this notice will be able to start working for another company during this period.

In this way, the Belgian pact envisages making it easier for e-commerce companies to provide evening employment, between 8 pm and midnight to protect better workers on platforms such as Uber or Deliveroo. In addition, as explained by the Belgian government, companies will have to present a training plan for their employees every year.