The four-day workweek is officially being introduced to Poland.
In a big move that’s setting a new benchmark for corporate Poland, Herbapol Poznań, a venerable institution in the herbal products market since the 19th century, announced that it’s transitioning its workforce to a four-day work week.
The initiative, as reported by Notes from Poland, is rooted in the company’s commitment to improving employee well-being. The decision also marks a drastic change from Poland’s historically lengthy work hours.
Herbapol Poznań is transitioning to the shortened work schedules without cutting employee salaries — offering its 400-strong staff an extra day of rest each week while maintaining standard eight-hour workdays.
It’s reported that the company’s CEO, Tomasz Kaczmarek, is treating the introduction of the four-day work week as a pilot program, and the firm will be keenly observing its impact on productivity and employee satisfaction against the backdrop of similar trends in Western Europe.
The four-day work week has been gaining slow, yet steady rates of adoption within the European workforce — with companies like Lamborghini announcing adoption of the shorter workweek. Additionally, there is rising interest in the U.K., and recently, Germany began its six-month, four-day work week trial on February 1. Germany’s trial encompasses 45 companies and is organized by 4 Day Week Global — a New Zealand-based non-profit, known for organizing similar trials.
