Poland's shorter-working-week pilot: 80% of employers want to keep it

Four out of five employers in Poland’s state-funded shorter-working-week pilot want to carry on, according to the labour minister, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk. The pilot covers 78 employers, 38 private and 40 public, and about 5,000 workers, with no loss of pay. Hours were cut by at least 10% in the first half of 2026 and 20% in the second, through four-day weeks, shorter days or extra days off. Testing ends in December (Portal Samorządowy/PAP; RMF24).

Why this matters

This is one of the largest government-run trials of shorter hours in Europe, and it included public-sector employers, which most earlier trials did not. The ministry is leaning towards “soft recommendations” rather than legislation for now, so there is no new legal right on the way in Poland. Its value is the evidence it will produce, which unions and employers elsewhere will cite.

For how the pilot was set up, see our earlier report.

What to watch: the final results after the pilot ends in December.