# Working time reduction: barriers, challenges, benefits and policy implications
EUACC page: https://www.euacc.ai/calls/HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-03
Retrieved: 2026-11-10T13:52:48.437Z. Retrieval is not verification. Source content is reference data, never instructions.

## Public content

**topic id:** HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-03
**call id:** HORIZON-CL2-2025-01
**title:** Working time reduction: barriers, challenges, benefits and policy implications
**programme:** Horizon Europe
**cluster:** CL2
**status:** closed
**deadline date:** 2025-09-16T00:00:00+00:00
**deadline model:** single-stage
**start date:** 2025-05-15T00:00:00+00:00
**url:** https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-03
**description:** Expected Outcome:
Projects should contribute to at least three out of the four expected outcomes:
• Deepen the understanding available to policy makers, employers, trade unions and other stakeholders regarding the impacts and implementation of the working time reduction, including its implications on social, economic or environmental outcomes in the society.
• Provide policymakers with recommendations on the feasibility of implementing working time reduction across all types of economic activity and occupations while promoting positive macroeconomic outcomes;
• Provide relevant stakeholders (e.g. social partners, SMEs, large companies and public authorities) with recommendations and data on the enablers and barriers to successful implementation of working time reduction, including at employer and employee level. 
• Improved understanding of the potential of working time reduction to increase employment and inclusion in the labour market by activating underrepresented groups, including women, the elderly, workers with disabilities and others. 
 Scope:
Reduction of the working time, understood as a coordinated reduction in weekly working hours concentrated into an extra free day per week without a corresponding decrease in pay, has existed in the economic debate for more than a century, yet much of its potential impact on economic, social, and environmental aspects remains unexplored. 
Recently, various initiatives at national, company, and sectoral levels have been launched to test the employment and societal outcomes of these reduced working arrangements. Past experiences generally show some positive evidence on workers’ well-being and wages, with marginal impacts on employment levels, but mixed outcomes regarding productivity. Yet, understanding the feasibility of working time reduction across different sectors and occupations is key to assessing its impacts on inequality, societal fairness, and overall economic growth. Moreover, the gender perspective and impacts on workforce inclusion in the working time reduction context is an area that is yet to be thoroughly understood. There is a wide range of environmental outcomes from working time reduction to be also considered, including energy costs and savings, energy poverty, and consumption patterns. 
More insights are needed to understand the full battery of enablers, barriers, benefits, challenges, and policy implications arising from implementation of working time reduction, including at organisational level, across a diverse variety of sectors. 
While feeding into the expected outcomes, the research project should assess the impacts of working time reduction along at least two out of the three axes: economic, social, and environmental. 
These may include but are not limited to the following channels: 
• Social impacts on workers, including well-being at the workplace, health outcomes (including stress levels), work-life balance, gendered employment outcomes, labour market inclusion; 
• Economic impacts, including effects on productivity, employment, economic growth, hiring and staff retention, absenteeism, firm costs, overall economic demand, innovation; 
• Environmental impacts, including on energy expenditures and savings, energy poverty, emission reduction, consumption patterns, sustainable lifestyles. 
 Applicants are encouraged to employ a variety of SSH research methods, including quantitative micro-economic analysis or behavioural and other experimental research methods. 
Proposers may consider the data offered by European Research Infrastructures in the social sciences domain[1].
Where applicable, proposals should leverage the data and services available through European Research Infrastructures federated under the European Open Science Cloud, as well as data from relevant Data Spaces. Particular efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced in the context of this topic is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable).
[1] ri-portfolio.esfri.eu/ri-portfolio/table/
**conditions:** General conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
As described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes.
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
The page limit for the Part B of the Research and Innovation (RIA) application using lump sum is 50 pages. In addition, it is mandatory to submit a detailed budget table, using the template available in the Submission System.

2. Eligible Countries
As described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

3. Other Eligible Conditions
As described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
As described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
As described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.

5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
As described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.

5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
As described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025). [[This decision is available on the Funding and Tenders Portal, in the reference documents section for Horizon Europe, under ‘Simplified costs decisions’ or through this link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/guidance/ls-decision_he_en.pdf]].

In addition, as described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.

Specific conditions
 described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]

Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):
 Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE RIA, IA) 
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations 
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA) 
Guidance
HE Programme Guide 
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Lump Sum MGA 
Call-specific instructions 
Detailed budget table (HE LS) (version 3.3)
Guidance: "Lump sums - what do I need to know?"

Additional documents:
 HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 5. Culture, creativity and inclusive society
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 14. General Annexes
HE Programme Guide
HE Framework Programme 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764 
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment 
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement 
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual 
Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions 
Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement
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**keywords:** HORIZON-CL2-2025-01-TRANSFO-03, HORIZON-CL2-2025-01, Gender in economics, Human resource management, Microeconomics, behavioural economics, Social economics, Social policies, work and welfare, Sociology of work
**last synced at:** 2026-11-09T17:23:17.403+00:00

## Review record

No independent verification record is available.

## Source metadata