Trial in reducing regular working hours in the public social welfare and healthcare sector

The contracting parties of the social welfare and healthcare sector have recorded the following regarding the voluntary night work trial in the sector's 2025-2028 protocol of signature: 

• The trial applies to functions where shift work regularly includes night work, based on the shift work order. 
• In the trial, regular weekly working hours are reduced from the usual 38 hours and 15 minutes to 36 hours. The regular full working hours of a three-week period are 108 hours.

The trial is unique even on the international level, as previous working hour reduction trials have not been able to verify the impact that shortening working hours has on actual working hours or working hour characteristics, nor has it been possible to monitor sickness absences or turnover using register data. 

There has been extensive public debate on shortening working hours, but there is little scientific research on trials at the level of individual workplaces - or otherwise. Reducing working hours has not been studied in Finland in more than 20 years.

The project aims to investigate the following factors regarding the night work trial starting in August 2026 or later and taking place by 31 October 2027: 

• the realisation of a reduction in working hours 
• the effects of the trial on well-being at work, measured by sickness absences and turnover
• factors that promote or hinder the success of the trial.
   

The project uses two different data sets:

1. Existing daily working hour data of the public social and healthcare sector
   The data will be updated during the project with the working hour data of the three wellbeing services counties participating in the trial, comprising approximately 20,000 employees in Kainuu, North Ostrobothnia and Päijät-Häme, along with data of about 20 participating units. The data will be updated until the end of 2027. Working hour data includes absences and their reasons, and it can be used to assess turnover at the level of work unit and employee. The detailed nature of the data enables assessment of how the reduction of the weekly working time implemented in the night work trial from 38 hours and 15 minutes to 36 hours is realised in practice within the trial units.
2. Group interviews
   The project will include group interviews with employees, supervisors and shift planners of the units participating in the trial. The interviews will survey factors promoting and hinder the reduction of working hours in the night work trial. The interviews will be carried out at the start, middle, and end of the trial. 

To our knowledge, we are the first in the world to study the realisation of working time reduction in the organisation of regular night work, the trial's impact on workloading of working hours, and well-being, and the factors that influence the success of the trial. It is unique that we can verify the realisation and effects of the trial using employers' working hourtime data. 

The results of the project can be put to use rapidly by wellbeing services counties participating in the project, and the parties to the social and healthcare agreement. The results are also published openly, which enables them to be used more widely by other parties in the public social and healthcare sector and the international community. 

The project will provide significant new information and understanding, particularly on the arrangements for night work and reducing working hours in the social and healthcare sector. This supports the well-being, health and safety of personnel.

• Kati Karhula
• Aki Koskinen
• Sanna Pesonen
• Mikael Sallinen 
• Päivi Vanttola

• Local Government and County Employers KT
• Wellbeing services county of Kainuu
• Wellbeing services county of North Ostrobothnia
• Wellbeing services county of Päijät-Häme

The Finnish Work Environment Fund and Local Government and County Employers KT