Thinking about a three-day weekend, less than 40 working hours? It's a reality now
Last updated on: 24 June,2023 03:34 pm
In the Netherlands, the weekly working hours are just 29
LISBON/BRUSSELS (Web Desk) – The employers, at least in the West, are no more at odds with the suggestion to reduce the number of working hours or days as both research and practical execution have proved that it is making the workers more productive.
Hence, the list is growing as Portugal is the latest addition to the countries - the UK, Spain and others - experimenting with a four-day working week.
It started with Belgium which gave a legal cover to a four-day week. So the workers in Belgium since November last year have a right to choose in how many days they want to perform a full workweek.
The idea is to give the employees the power to decide whether they want to condense their working hours [40] in four days to enjoy a three-day weekend.
Certianly, the bargain between a three-day weekend with the same workload, pay and benefits is certainly very attractive as the employees have more time for personal life, family, hobbies and leisure. They can even boost tourism and thus economic activity by opting to spend the weekly holidays within their own or any other country.
Meanwhile, the benefits extend to less fuel consumption and carbon emission as the world is facing the challenge of climate change.
Having more time for yourself also means fewer chances of psychological and physical ailments, reducing the burden on the health system both in terms of money and number of patients.
So devastating coronavirus pandemic isn’t responsible for just inflation, loss of jobs and rising cost of living along with concentration of wealth in the favour of big companies as it also provided an opportunity to the redefine the relationship employers and employees.
Countries where you can work less than 40 hours a week
Meanwhile, there the likes of the Netherlands where there is no legislation for a four-day working week. In fact, they are even more worker friendly. Reason? Your working hours are just 29 a week.
Who is next in the line? Denmark 33 hours and Australia where a trial has allowed the employees of some selected companies to have a 38-hour week.