Portugal ranks 9th among countries for weekend worker satisfaction
Portugal Tops the EU in Weekend Work Among Employees, Self-Employed Close Behind
Looks like Portugal is breaking the weekend relaxation norm in the European Union, with a significant chunk of the workforce grinding through Saturdays and Sundays.
According to Eurostat's latest data, a whopping 22.4% of EU workers toil away on weekends. But 20% of Portuguese employees are taking the cake, and not in a delicious way. This figure is remarkably close to the EU average for employees, but be ready for your coffee breaks to become a thing of the past, as self-employed workers in Portugal consistently exceed expectations.
In Greece, the workweek extends onto weekends for 32.3% of salaried employees. But in neighboring Lithuania, this figure plummets to a mere 3%. Portugal, however, doesn't seem to be catching the Lithuanians' work-life balance vibe.
Things get even more spine-tingling when we delve into self-employed workers. Across the EU as a whole, the self-employed workforce tends to put in more hours on weekends than their employee counterparts. Here's the breakup: 46.7% of self-employed workers with employees, and 37.8% of self-employed workers without employees, trade their weekends for additional hours.
Fitting neatly into the pattern, 20% of Portuguese employees are there on Saturdays and Sundays, while around 45% of self-employed workers with employees follow suit, skating close to the EU averages of 19.2% and 46.7%, respectively.
Interestingly, we found further insights in the enrichment data. The specific numbers aren't available locally, but eu-wide employee hours average at 36.6 hours per week, while self-employed workers with employees clock in for an astounding 46.7 hours! So, it's clear: the self-employed crew is clocking more hours across Portugal and the EU compared to regular employees.
[1] Eurostat's data on weekend working hours
[2] European Union's average working hours for employees
[3] Eurostat's data on working hours for self-employed workers within different categories[3] Eurostat's data on self-employed workers without employees and their working hours
- Despite Portugal leading in weekend work among EU employees, it seems the country is lagging in terms of overall health and wellness, as constant work may impact the workplace-wellness of its workforce.
- With self-employed workers in Portugal consistently exceeding EU averages in weekend work and clocking higher hours than their employee counterparts, financial implications for health-and-wellness policies should be considered by both individual entrepreneurs and the Portuguese government.
