Is there a 4-day week in Belgium?
Partly. Belgium gives full-time employees a right to request a four-day week, but it is a compressed week: the same weekly hours spread over four longer days, not fewer hours.
Under the law of 3 October 2022, the daily limit can rise to 9.5 hours for a full-time employee who works four days a week. It applies only where the employer's work rules allow it; for weeks over 38 hours a collective agreement is needed. The standard week is 38 hours (the legal limit is 40), so 38 hours fit into four days of 9.5. The employee asks in writing, for a period of up to six months that can be renewed. The employer may refuse but must give written reasons within a month, and the employee cannot be treated unfavourably for asking.
The same reform also lets full-time employees spread their hours over a two-week cycle at their written request, and lengthens the advance notice of variable schedules for part-time workers from five to seven working days.
Genuinely shorter weeks are rare. A state-commissioned pilot run by Ghent University and the Federal Planning Bureau ended in June 2025 with one participating organisation. A federal incentive in force since 2004, lower social-security contributions for cutting collective weekly hours, is often used for extra leave instead.
Caveat: this is a right to ask, not a right to a shorter week, and employers can say no.
Latest developments
Belgian state-commissioned shorter-week pilot attracts one organisation
A Federal Planning Bureau and Ghent University pilot asked firms to cut hours by at least two a week with no effect on wages. Despite a three-month recruitment campaign only one company fully took part; the Brussels Times says uptake of shorter weeks has stayed limited.
Brussels Times: Belgian companies reluctant to adopt a four-day week (opens in new tab)
4-day-week trials in Belgium
What each pilot reported. Figures are the organiser's own, from the linked report.
COLORBEL pilot trial of a shorter working week
Run by Ghent University with the Federal Planning Bureau; commissioned by Belspo
- 1 company
- 12 employees
Only one organisation joined the six-month trial (a minimum cut of two hours a week at full pay; it cut 20%). Its data are not published and there was no control group, so no effects are reported. About 25 organisations showed interest and three ran their own trials. The project found employer interest in Belgium limited.
COLORBEL final report summary (Belspo, 2025) (opens in new tab)Jobs in Belgium
Salesperson (m/f/d*)
PVH Corp. · Onsite · Knokke, Belgium
Summer Fridays
Account Executive SMB
Alan · Remote · Belgium
Async HoursAccount Executive SMB
Alan · Remote · Belgium
Async HoursTender Manager
Alan · Remote · Belgium
Async Hours
Who offers a 4-day week in Belgium
We do not list a company with a 4-day week in Belgium yet.
Suggest a companyHow Belgium compares
Belgium, the labelled dot, against the other countries we cover.
Average weekly hours
Joint 9th shortest of 25 countries, 1.3 hours below the median of 37.3.
Netherlands 31.3 to South Africa 42.3
See all 25 countries
| Country | Hours |
|---|---|
| Netherlands | 31.3 |
| Denmark | 33.3 |
| Germany | 34.5 |
| Norway | 34.6 |
| Australia | 35.4 |
| Austria | 35.6 |
| Finland | 35.6 |
| Switzerland | 35.7 |
| Belgium | 36.0 |
| Ireland | 36.0 |
| United Kingdom | 36.3 |
| France | 36.9 |
| Sweden | 37.3 |
| Iceland | 37.4 |
| Japan | 37.5 |
| Spain | 37.5 |
| New Zealand | 37.6 |
| United States | 38.2 |
| Lithuania | 39.0 |
| South Korea | 39.4 |
| Brazil | 39.5 |
| Chile | 39.8 |
| Poland | 39.9 |
| Portugal | 40.0 |
| South Africa | 42.3 |
Usual weekly hours on the main job, all employed people, from the OECD (latest year, 2024 or 2025). It includes part-timers. No comparable figure for: Canada, Philippines, United Arab Emirates.
Statutory paid leave
Joint 12th longest of 26 countries, level with the median of 20.
United Kingdom 28 to United States None
See all 26 countries
| Country | Days |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 28 |
| Austria | 25 |
| Denmark | 25 |
| Finland | 25 |
| France | 25 |
| Sweden | 25 |
| Iceland | 24 |
| Brazil | 22 |
| Portugal | 22 |
| Spain | 22 |
| Norway | 21 |
| Australia | 20 |
| Belgium | 20 |
| Germany | 20 |
| Ireland | 20 |
| Netherlands | 20 |
| New Zealand | 20 |
| Poland | 20 |
| Switzerland | 20 |
| Chile | 15 |
| South Africa | 15 |
| South Korea | 15 |
| Canada | 10 |
| Japan | 10 |
| Philippines | 5 |
| United States | None |
The legal minimum a year, in working days on a five-day week, before public holidays. Definitions differ: some countries set weeks or calendar days (converted here), the UK lets public holidays count and the United States has no national minimum. Each country page says what its number covers. No comparable figure for: Lithuania, United Arab Emirates.
Working in Belgium
Working hours
Employees in Belgium work 36.0 hours a week on average (OECD, 2025). The legal limits are 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, and since 1 January 2003 all firms must have reduced weekly working time to 38 hours.
Paid leave and holidays
Annual leave is four weeks, or 20 days on a five-day week, for a full year worked the year before (the cited holiday-fund page covers blue-collar workers). Employees may not be put to work on ten public holidays a year.
Part-time and flexible work
In 2024, 23.2% of employed people worked part-time, against 17.1% in the EU. From 1 June 2026, the minimum weekly working time of a part-time contract fell from one third to one tenth of the full-time week, according to FPS Employment.
Remote work
In 2025, 32.4% of employees aged 15-64 worked from home usually (10.4%) or sometimes (22.0%), according to Eurostat.