The institute pointed out, citing its own research conducted in December 2023 on a sample of 1,000 companies, that 5% of people in Poland work part-time, while the EU countries' average is 17%, while 13% work remotely in Poland, which is 10% less than the EU average.

The report states that the leader in the practice of work-life balance (is the Italians, who scored 9.4/10 points in the Better Life Index (an OECD index for comparing living standards), followed by the Danes (8.6/10 points) and Norwegians (8.5/10 points).

Poland achieved a score of 6.5/10 points, third from last among the EU countries surveyed and 25th out of 41 countries surveyed in the overall ranking.

The report shows that more than 60% of employers surveyed believe that flexible forms of employment have a positive impact on employee efficiency. Among Polish entrepreneurs, flexi work is common, with 46% of companies saying they use it. Part-time work is equally popular (42%).

As noted by PIE analyst Katarzyna Dębkowska, in 2024 companies intend to continue using these solutions, as well as expand them.

The least frequently used approach is the four-day work week (1% of surveyed companies), but in 2024, 2% of entrepreneurs stated they intend to implement it.

The report also highlighted the amendment to the Labor Code implementing work-life balance, which went into effect on April 26, 2023.

The report noted that due to the short duration of the regulation, the related economic benefits cannot be clearly assessed yet. Instead, they pointed to the positive reception by employees, who particularly underscored the additional childcare opportunities.

According to the PIE survey, employees cited work prioritization arrangements (75%), additional vacation days to care for a family member (68%) and parental leave for fathers (65%), as positively affecting work-life balance.

Work-life balance is usually defined as the amount of time spent on work, comparing it to time spent doing other things.