The Russian Ministry of Labor and Social Protection will discuss an experiment to introduce a four-day workweek in enterprises included in the national productivity enhancement project, “Izvestia” newspaper reported.

The publication quotes Peter Zaselsky, Deputy Minister of Economic Development.

It is noted that the list of companies includes enterprises in the field of processing industry, agriculture, scientific and technical activities, as well as construction.

“At the enterprises ... workers do not do anything 30–40% of the time. Our task is not to shorten the working day, but to make them useful, ” Zaselsky said.

Zaselsky added that there are currently no clear parameters for the transition period to the four-day workweek. According to him, the final conclusion on the reduction of the workweek can be made when the scheme is tested in a large number of companies, since an experiment within a single enterprise will be unconvincing.

So, it is reported that the experiment will be carried out in 266 enterprises of small and medium-sized businesses from 30 regions of Russia. 

The topic of a possible transition to a four-day working week was earlier discussed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

“It is very likely that the future will see a four-day working week as the basis of the social and labor contract," Medvedev said early in June.

You can build a work schedule that the person is busy, for example, four days a week or, conversely, a smaller number of hours each day to work,” he said.