A short work week is not a new concept in Switzerland, though it has never taken off. Basel-City is launching its own trial to see if this system could be successful.
A ‘typical’ work week in Switzerland is 42 hours on average for full-time employment, though in some jobs it could go up to 45 hours.
The number of hours you are expected to ‘put in’ every day, as well as specific timeframes (usually from 8 am to 5 pm, but that could vary), is spelled out in your work contract and / or your Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) — if your company is covered by one.
A 42-hour work week is above the EU average of 35 hours and 42 minutes.
There have been attempts in Switzerland to shorten the work hours in the past (read more about this below), and a new one could be tested soon.
Four days, full pay
A pilot project for a four-day work week will be conducted in Basel, despite a strong opposition from some parties.
The date has not yet been set.
However, the cantonal parliament has given its approval for a three-year experiment that would encourage local companies with up to 250 employees to voluntarily test a four-day week, while paying employees their full salaries.
Participating employers would receive financial support from the state for the duration of the project, and at the end they would evaluate their experiences.
Unsurprisingly, the proposal met with some resistance, particularly from the conservative groups, which pointed out that if this practice becomes widespread, the existing skilled-labour shortage will worsen.
Left-wing parties, on the other hand, view a reduction in working hours as an opportunity to improve employees’ work-life balance.
READ ALSO: Does Switzerland really have a good work-life balance?
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Previous attempts
In 2024, Geneva MP Thierry Cerutti from the local Citizen’s Movement Party asked the canton’s parliament to approve a six-hour day, in both public and private sectors, for the same wage as for the regular, eight-hour day.
To defend his position, Cerutti told a local TV station, Léman Bleu, that “the notion of work has changed enormously” in the historical context.
In the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, people worked up to 16 hours a day, he said. “In the 1950s, we reduced that to 47 hours a week, and today, we are at 41 hours, roughly.”
Employees should be able to enjoy a quality of life outside the workplace, he said, “which will allow them to be more productive at work.”
‘We are not France’
There has not been much follow-up on this motion to date, but doubters are claiming that reducing work hours while Switzerland — including Geneva — is experiencing a labour shortage “is almost suicidal,” according to Léman Bleu’s presenter Jérémy Seydoux.
He added that if Geneva were to reduce working hours, “we would have to look for workers in far-away countries, not just in France.”
Seydoux also pointed out that France had already introduced a 35-hour week, and it has not been beneficial from the economic point of view.
“Let’s not compare France with Switzerland,” Cerutti countered. “France is not orderly, not disciplined, and our values are not the same.”
This article explains how the shorter work week works in France.
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Other attempts as well
Previously, in 2022, the idea of a four-day work week won support in some circles in Switzerland, with politicians from various parties saying workplace hours should reflect contemporary conditions, as well as improve the work-life balance.
Swiss economists, however, nixed the idea.
“Companies must be able to decide for themselves when their employees are more productive, that’s not the job of the state,” said economist Reiner Eichenberger.
