Is there a 4-day week in Iceland?
Partly. Iceland has not adopted a four-day week, but it has moved to a shorter one. After two public-sector trials, unions won shorter hours in contracts signed between 2019 and 2021. According to the Autonomy and Alda report, about 86% of Iceland's working population had by June 2021 either moved to shorter hours or gained a way to negotiate them.
The trials ran in Reykjavík City Council (from March 2015) and the national government (from 2017). They cut hours from 40 to 35 or 36 a week with no cut in pay. More than 2,500 workers took part, over 1% of the working population. The report found that productivity and service provision stayed the same or improved in most workplaces, and that wellbeing rose.
Three caveats. The change is in weekly hours, not days: in the public sector the contracts cut 13 minutes a day, effective January 2021. The 86% includes people whose contracts only let them negotiate shorter hours at their workplace, and unlike the trials, the later cuts were not all cost-free. And a 2024 Alda and Autonomy follow-up, using a 2021-22 government survey, found 59% of workers had been offered reduced hours in the previous two years, so not everyone had been.
4-day-week trials in Iceland
What each pilot reported. Figures are the organiser's own, from the linked report.
Reykjavík City Council and Icelandic government shorter working week trials
Run by Reykjavík City Council, Icelandic government and BSRB; evaluated by Alda and Autonomy
- Mar 2015
- 100 companies
- 2,500 employees
Hours cut from 40 to 35 or 36 a week with no cut in pay, for over 2,500 staff in over 100 workplaces. Autonomy and Alda report productivity and service provision stayed the same or improved in most workplaces and wellbeing rose. The trials were revenue neutral for the city council and the government.
Productivity and service provision remained the same or improved across the majority of trial workplaces.
- Mental health: Worker wellbeing increased across a range of indicators, from perceived stress and burnout to health and work-life balance (summary finding; the summary gives no single percentage).
Who offers a 4-day week in Iceland
We do not list a company with a 4-day week in Iceland yet.
Suggest a companyHow Iceland compares
Iceland, the labelled dot, against the other countries we cover.
Average weekly hours
14th shortest of 25 countries, 0.1 hours above 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
7th longest of 26 countries, 4 days above 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 Iceland
Working hours
The average employee works 37.4 hours a week (OECD, 2025), counting part-timers. According to the Autonomy and Alda report, the 2019-2021 contracts brought standard hours in the public sector to 36 a week (36, in some cases 32, for shift workers), while private-sector cuts varied by contract and workplace. Employers may not schedule a workday longer than 13 hours, and workers get at least 11 hours of continuous rest in 24.
Paid leave and holidays
The minimum is 24 weekdays of paid leave a year, under the Holiday Allowance Act No. 30/1987. There are 16 public holidays a year.
Part-time and flexible work
In 2025, 21.6% of employed people aged 15-64 worked part time: 31.0% of women and 13.2% of men (Eurostat).
Remote work
In 2025, 37.9% of employees aged 15-64 worked from home at least sometimes: 5.3% usually and 32.6% sometimes (Eurostat).