New Eurofound research report on working time

A new report has been published by Eurofound focusing on the most important changes in in the reguolation of working time in Europe in 2021 and 2022. The full report can be accessed here. Below you can find an abstract and the key findings of the report.

Abstract

The most important changes in the regulation of working time in Europe in 2021 and 2022 were related to the transposition of two European directives: the Work–life Balance Directive and the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive. The reduction of working time and more specifically the four-day working week have been increasingly debated in many EU Member States. In 2022, the average collectively agreed working week in the EU stood at 38.1 hours.

Of the sectors analysed, agreed working hours were shortest in public administration, at around 37.7 hours – still longer than the overall average – and longest in the retail sector, at 38.5 hours. The average collectively agreed paid annual leave entitlement stood at 24.3 days in the EU, and was higher in the Member States that were part of the EU prior to its 2004 enlargement (EU14), at 25.3 days, than in the other Member States, at only 20.9 days. If working collectively agreed hours, full-time workers in the EU27 would have worked, on average, 1,714 hours in 2022, with an average of 1,682 hours in the EU14 and 1,820 hours in the other Member States.

Key findings

• The most important changes in working time in Europe in 2021 and 2022 were related to the transposition of two European directives: the Work–life Balance Directive and the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive. The reduction of working time and more specifically the four-day working week are increasingly a hot topic of debate in many EU Member States.

• Although the usual working week for full-time employees stood at 39.8 hours in 2022, the average collectively agreed normal full-time working week in the EU was 38.1 hours. New findings highlight the collectively agreed normal working week was shortest in public administration (37.7 hours) and longest in retail (38.5 hours).

• Given the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on work, findings reveal that the average usual weekly working hours of full-time employees fell between 2019 and 2022 in 19 Member States. However, Member States that joined the EU prior to 2004 (EU14) worked almost one hour less than those that joined in or after 2004 (EU13), a difference that has remained constant for more than a decade.

• While the minimum paid annual leave entitlement in the EU is 20 days, some Member States have increased this minimum entitlement through legislation or collective agreements. By factoring in entitlements established through collective bargaining, the average annual paid leave rose to 24.3 days in the EU with more days in the EU14 (25.3 days) and slightly less in the EU 13 (20.9 days).

• If collectively agreed annual working hours are considered, full-time workers in the EU will have worked on average 1,714 hours in 2022. This was shorter in the EU14 at 1,682 hours and longer in the EU13 at 1,820 hours. Estonia and Hungary, where collective bargaining does not play a substantial role in defining working time regulations, recorded the longest annual working hours at 1,856 hours, the equivalent of nearly seven weeks more than workers in France, which had the shortest agreed annual working hours.