Seven out of ten companies do not agree with the innovative regime. The main opponents are from the commerce, industry and construction sectors.
Seven out of ten companies in Portugal are against the implementation of the four day weekpoints out the “Business Context Survey on the Labor Market”, a study prepared by the Portuguese Industrial Association – Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AIP-CCI), released this Monday.
The report points out that among the main opponents of the four-day week are companies in the commerce, industry and construction sectors. Among those who agree with reducing the working week, 71% argue that the measure should be optional.
The report released this Monday also indicates that 70% of companies argue that labor matters such as careers, benefits, additional remuneration or overtime limits should be agreed within companies and not within a Collective Labor Agreement (CCT).
Regarding the individual hour bank71% of the companies surveyed give a favorable opinion and, of these, 74% believe that it should be established by agreement within the company, instead of in collective bargaining agreements. According to the AIP note, among the companies that most advocate this internal consultation are small and medium-sized companies.
In terms of work model, 81% of the 523 participating companies say they practice in-person work, 17% a hybrid model and 2% telework. Among those who adopted a hybrid or remote model, 73% say that this contributed to an improvement in productivity and 84% consider maintaining this model.
Minimum wage
When asked about the National Minimum Wage (SMN), 83% of companies agree with its existencealthough 65% understand that it should not be seen as an instrument for redistributing wealth.
Among those who consider that the SMN should be an instrument for this purpose, 45% say that society should bear it, through negative taxes on lower incomes, while the remaining 55% argue that it should be borne by the costs operating companies.
Regarding the value of 1,020 euros per month projected for the SMN until the end of the current legislature, more than half (56%) of the companies surveyed indicate that it is supportable by the companies’ operating account, although 95% are unaware of any study that indicates their sector of activity as having the capacity to finance it.
For 65% of companies, the annual setting of the minimum wage should depend on the evolution of productivity.
Self-declaration of illness
When asked about self-declaration of illness, 55% of companies spoke out againstdespite 89% pointing out that they have never registered a case like this or that they are very infrequent.
With regard to the so-called “right to disconnect”, half of the companies defend it and many others disagree, and among those with the highest rate of rejection of the implementation of this measure are, above all, medium and micro companies. Regarding its communication to ACT, 86% of companies disagree with this procedure.
The AIP-CCI survey was carried out between October 12 and November 11, 2024 with 523 commercial companies across the country (24% from the North, 32% from the Center, 26% from the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, 12% from Alentejo, 3% of the Algarve and 3% of the islands).
Industry represented 47% of the sample, followed by services (26%), commerce (14%), construction (7%), agriculture (3%), accommodation and restaurants (2%) and transport and storage (1%), 3% were large companies, 8% medium-sized, 45% small and 44% micro-enterprises. Of the entire sample, 49.01% are exporting companies.
The results contrast with what the pilot project showed us, in which 41 companies tried the four-day week in Portugal. With a reduction to 32 or 36 hours of work per week, but with the same salary. Just 20% of companies want to retreat and return to the usual five days a week.
