From June 30, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the City Hall in Szczecinek will work between 7-15, on Tuesdays from 7-16, on Thursdays from 7-17. Until now, the magistrate was open from Monday to Wednesday from 7.30-15.30, on Thursdays 7.30-17.30, on Fridays 7.30-13.30.
“This change is related to the fact that we enter the 35-hour work week. Most officials will work four days a week and will have a longer weekend, free Friday or Monday. If someone has free Fridays in July, they will have free Mondays in August,” said Mateusz Sienkiewicz.
He pointed out that the employees of the Civil Affairs Department and the Registry Office would not be able to use these “longer weekends”. “It cannot be organized there logistically. Instead of longer weekends, officials will work one hour shorter every day,” said Sienkiewicz.
He noted that “the office must be organized in such a way that each department works five days a week.” As a result of introduced changes in working time, a single employee will work shorter, but the whole office will be available to residents three hours longer per week.
The municipal spokesman assured that although the changes are made for the holiday and vacation time, the work schedule of individual magistrate departments was prepared so that there are no staff shortages or deterioration of the quality of work. “A resident cannot feel that an office employee is working shorter,” emphasized Sienkiewicz.
The municipal spokesman said that the encouragement of shortened working time while maintaining the remuneration in force at the 40-hour work week could have been relevant to the last recruitment to the Civil Registry Office. “As I remember, we had 27 passes per place. It was a lot. Usually it was a few passes, sometimes we had to repeat recruitment due to lack of volunteers. Currently, recruitment to the municipal department is currently underway. We are waiting for those willing” – said Sienkiewicz.
About 80 people work in the Szczecin magistrate.
Sienkiewicz added that the introduction of a 35-hour work week is being considered in subsequent municipal units, including in the Municipal Shared Services Center.
In Poland, the first office in which a 35-hour work week was introduced was the City Hall in Leszno. There is shorter from July 1, 2024. In the magistrate in Włocławek, the shortened work week is valid since September 2024.
For several days, the official website of the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy has been available for recruitment for the piloting of shortened working time. The call for proposals will start on August 14 and will last until September 15 this year.
