Belgium will now offer employees the opportunity to work a four-day week. Various countries and companies have experimented with the idea, which is gaining traction in many parts of the world. Four days working, three days relaxing with friends and family. And all this for the same money. What's not to like? Surely most employees would jump at the chance. Advocates for the four-day work week suggest that when it is implemented worker satisfaction increases, as does productivity. Belgium will now be introducing four-day work weeks for those who want it. However, employees will not be working less. They will simply condense their hours into fewer days, if they want to. They will be allowed to decide flexibly on whether to work four or five days a week. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo hopes that the model will help to create a more dynamic economy and will make it easier for people to combine their family lives with their career. But some full-time employees will be working very long days if they choose to condense their hours. Others, like shift workers, will simply not have the option of that flexibility. Also Read | India’s new labour codes to allow 4-day work per week DW explores which countries and companies have already experimented with the four-day working week. Iceland: Fewer hours at full pay Iceland tested a similar model from 2015 and 2019. However, it reduced the working week from 40 to 35 or 36 hours and maintained pay levels. Some 2,500 people took part in the test phase. A study by the Icelandic non-profit Alda (Association for Democracy and Sustainability) and the British think tank Autonomy found that the well-being of participants had improved significantly, working processes had been optimized and there was closer collaboration between colleagues. Productivity either stayed the same or improved. After the test phase, trade unions and associations negotiated permanent cuts in working hours. Some 86% of employees now have the right to a four-day week. Scotland and Wales: An expensive experiment Scotland is also currently testing the four-day work week, with the state supporting participating companies with about £10 million (ca. $13.6 million). In Wales, Sophie Howe, the future generations commissioner, has also called on the government to introduce a similar four-day working week trial, at least in the public sector. Mixed results in Sweden In Sweden, a four-day working week with full pay was tested in 2015, with mixed results. Even left-wing parties thought that it would be too expensive to implement this on a large scale. But some companies chose to keep reduced hours for their workers. The car firm Toyota had already decided to do this for mechanics 10 years ago and has stuck with its decision. Also Read | 4-day work-week, change in salary: India's new labour codes likely in FY 2022-23 Fake news from Finland Finland also hit the international headlines for a brief moment, after reportedly cutting working hours dramatically. The northern European country allegedly wanted introduce a four-day working week, as well as a six-hour day. But it turned out that this was fake news, which the government then had to put straight. Spain struggles to start trial phase In Spain, the four-day working week will also be tested on request of the left-wing party Mas Pais. Some 6,000 employees of 200 small and medium-sized companies will be able to extend their weekend by one day, with full pay. The trial phase is due to run for at least one year, but it is not yet clear when it will begin. From start-ups to corporate giants In Germany, it is mainly smaller start-ups that are experimenting with a shorter working week. But in other countries, such as Japan, it is bigger companies that are venturing into this territory: For example, the tech giant Microsoft has experimented with the model by offering employees three-day weekends for a month. In New Zealand, the consumer goods giant Unilever is currently trialing a four-day work week at full pay. If the experiment turns out to be a success, it will reportedly be extended to other countries. This week, Belgium became the newest country to offer workers the right to complete their workweek in four days, rather than the typical five, without a loss of salary. Bloomberg reported that the move was made as part of an agreement "that aims to make Belgium's notoriously rigid labor market more flexible." However, just because the option will exist for employees does not mean employers will have to approve it, Bloomberg said. "The goal is to give people and companies more freedom to arrange their work time," Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on February 15 in Brussels according to Bloomberg. In July, CNBC reported that in Iceland 85 percent of workers were currently, or on their way to, working four days a week instead of five. Read more
"In many contemporary economies, there's a growing sense that people are overworked," Jack Kellam, a researcher at Autonomy, a U.K.-based think tank focused on labor's future, told CNBC in an interview. "In the U.K., for example, we know that 25% of all workplace absences or sick days can be traced back to stress generated by work." Shorter workweeks have also been tested in Sweden, Spain and Japan, CNBC reported. According to The New York Times, Unilever's New Zealand unit has also experimented with the abbreviated week. In January, a pilot program from 4 Day Week Global, a New Zealand–based not-for-profit advocacy organization, was announced and will be launched for a six-month period starting in June. On Wednesday, Director of the Four Day Week Campaign in the UK Joe Ryle announced on Twitter that there are 50 companies across the UK already on board. As a part of the pilot, companies will offer employees a 32-hour workweek without impacting pay.
Ryle told Bloomberg that similar pilots will begin in Ireland and the United States, and there are more plans for Canada, Australia, and New Zealand as well, Morning Brew reported. The New York Times reported in November that a four-day workweek has seemed "just around the corner" in the U.S. at various points in modern history.  "Though economic stagnation and recession in the '70s and '80s likely undercut any momentum as did a corporate focus on efficiency, globalization and the diminishing power of labor," the Times said. In March 2020, a Gallup poll found that just 5 percent of U.S. workers typically work a four-day week, the Times reported. The same study found that people who do work just four days reported benefits such as "significantly higher levels of well-being and less likely to feel chronically burned out" — though did report higher levels of "active disengagement." In July, Rep. Mark Takano of California "introduced legislation that would reduce the standard workweek from 40 hours to 32 hours by lowering the maximum hours threshold for overtime compensation for non-exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)," according to a release made available on Takano's site. Business Insider said in January that the legislation is still awaiting a vote. Newsweek contacted the office of Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy and Employment, Pierre-Yves Dermagne but did not hear back in time for publication. Where is there a 4 day week?Which country is most well known for its 4-day work week? Iceland: Between 2014 and 2021, Iceland ran a well-publicized trial of a 35-36-hour work week sponsored by the federal government. The trials covered 66 workplaces and 2,500 workers in total.
Which country has only 3 working days?Belgium. Belgium is the latest country to not only introduce a 4-day workweek, but also gives employees the right to ignore work-related messages and turn off work devices after work hours.
|
Which country has 4 days in a week
Postagens relacionadas
direito autoral © 2024 cumeu Inc.
