Have you ever thought if the weekend had one more day? The routine of working four days and taking three days off is the desire of 81% of Brazilian workers, according to a survey carried out by the recruitment company Empregos.com.br.
The survey, which heard more than 2,500 Brazilian workers, showed that 13% of professionals have doubts about this model and 6% believe that it does not work. But is this minority right?
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According to experts, research and experiences around the world, the 4×3 workweek (4 days worked and 3 days off) in addition to acting positively on the well-being of the employee, can also bring benefits to the corporation.
A person who works from Monday to Thursday compared to another who works from Monday to Friday has a 20% reduction in work, which is converted into rest. “When you increase the rate of rest and leisure, you also increase the rate of serotonin in the brain, which is the hormone of happiness”, explains Sérgio Amad, CEO of HR startup fiter and neuroscientist.
If that extra day off is associated with a good night’s sleep and healthy practice or habit, the gains are even greater. “Exercise, for example, causes the production of dopamine and endorphins, and can further increase feelings of happiness and improve mental health,” adds Amad.
The neuroscientist also cites research published by the Harvard Business Review that showed that happy employees are 31% more productive, 85% more efficient and 300% more innovative.
Based on other global studies, Tatiana Pimenta, CEO and Co-founder of Vittude, which develops mental health programs for companies, also welcomes the work model. “A 4-day week can result in an improvement in quality of life, reduced absences and also a lower incidence of mental illness”.
The neuroscience specialist points out, however, that in some cases the reduction in working hours can have the opposite effect on employees. “In a factory, for example, where people already work with undersized staff, who perform mechanical, synesthetic work, if you reduce the workload, you will have work overload, and even increase stress and cortisol in the workplace. environment.”
Pimenta explains that when we are tired, overworked, stressed, exhausted or even facing emotional illness, such as depression and anxiety disorders, a part of our brain known as the prefrontal cortex is greatly affected.
“When our mental health is not up to date, or we are very tired, all these functions of attention, productivity, focus, etc., suffer damage at different levels.”
4×3 workday around the world
Between 2015 and 2019, 2,500 employees in Iceland had their working week reduced to 35 hours in four working days. The result showed more productive, engaged and motivated employees.
Oxford, Cambridge and Boston College universities in the United States are also carrying out this experiment with 3,000 professionals by December 2022.
The experience even spawned the 4 Day Week Global movement, which advocates a shorter week. Global companies like Microsoft and Unilever already adopt this practice
In Brazil
Around here, companies seem to resist the new trend. Only 4.9% of the 251 companies that participated in the Employments.com.br study are in favor of reduced working hours, while 25% are against it and 71.1% still do not have a defined position on the subject.
Even flexible hours policies and the “short friday” (which reduces working hours on Friday) are practices rarely seen in Brazil, with 15.6% and 1.9% of companies adopting these models, according to the survey.
Currently, the Consolidation of Labor Laws, or simply CLT, provides that the maximum working day is 8 hours a day and 44 hours a week. These hours can be adapted for shift shifts and other scales, as explained by Guilherme Feldmann, founding partner of Feldmann Advocacia, and Juliana Philippi Bressane, a collaborating lawyer on the team.
In this way, nothing prevents the 4×3 journey from being adopted by Brazilians. “But we are talking about a special working day, which implies a reduction in the traditional working day: instead of 44 hours per week, there will be 32 (8 hours a day, for 4 days; or, at most, 4 days of 10 hours) ”, they observe.
Implementation requires an agreement between employer and employee, as this is an atypical journey.
In addition, by law, there can be no salary reduction. “Unless a new amendment is signed in the employment contract with the consent of the union of the category”, say Feldmann and Bressane. “If the employer only wants to reduce the working day without reducing the salary, there is no fence for the practice”, they conclude.
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