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Belgium approves four-day week

euronews.com

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Re: Belgium approves four-day week

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but the person you're replying to is talking to an employer who wishes they could hire someone to work 80% time for 80% pay, but somehow isn't able to do that (Hint: It's because they don't really want to)

Employees can and do work part-time. What a silly 'diss' lol.

Not as much as they would like to. I'd love to exchange a day for 20% cut, but it's not an option. Nobody will agree to that. Same with my colleagues. We don't need that 20% money but nobody cares. Even now when we're working from home at least a few days a week. It's simply not an option.

But thanks to global changes, country by country, this mentality will slowly be changed and finally 4-day week won't be some strange option but a norm.

Re: Belgium approves four-day week

#42
post #6

38 hours (the estimated work week) is exactly half of the 996 week (76 hours) of some companies in China. I don’t think that’s healthy, but if I had to bet, I’d pick the 76 hour workers outcompeting their 38 hour counterparts.

Consider this, imagine someone working every single waking minute at their job. Clearly they will not be very happy and after a time not very productive. So there exists some optimum level of productivity between 0 and 18 hours of work per day. The big question is whether it is closer to the 0 or closer to the 18. Currently there is some good evidence for it being in the 3-6 hour range(I don't have the studies on han…

I think this misses the point - the 9 to 9 point was probably just a distraction. Compare 4 day work weeks to 6 day work weeks. 50% more work days seems like a big advantage, even if workers only perform 3-6 hours of work per day.

Re: Belgium approves four-day week

#43
post #6

38 hours (the estimated work week) is exactly half of the 996 week (76 hours) of some companies in China. I don’t think that’s healthy, but if I had to bet, I’d pick the 76 hour workers outcompeting their 38 hour counterparts.

Consider this, imagine someone working every single waking minute at their job. Clearly they will not be very happy and after a time not very productive. So there exists some optimum level of productivity between 0 and 18 hours of work per day. The big question is whether it is closer to the 0 or closer to the 18. Currently there is some good evidence for it being in the 3-6 hour range(I don't have the studies on han…

It’s probably not the same productivity rate for each hour though. Those first 3 are perhaps most productive followed by less for the next 3, less for the next and so on. So value is still produced in the later hours. At some point it might not be worth paying the same rate as is paid for those first 3 though. Too bad all of this can’t be measured accurately (in many cases).

Re: Belgium approves four-day week

#45
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know that workers will just piss away the extra two hours a day and then take Friday’s off. I mean, I and most of my colleagues did that when my employer had 4 day work weeks during the summer . Instead of “summer hours” we called it “some of the hours”.

For an employer the fix is simple: Each year fire the 10,20,30% least productive employees.

European countries do not have at-will employment, you cannot just fire people around without a clear justification and first trying to resolve the issue with the employee.

Re: Belgium approves four-day week

#47
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's literally missing the entire point of it. You already have this now - always had it. There's nothing new or interesting about what you're "proposing". What IS new and interesting is getting employees who work 20% less, AND THEREFORE are 20% more productive (and presumably 20% happier), at the same cost.

> You already have this now - always had it. There's nothing new or interesting about what you're "proposing". That's not remotely true. There's a real stigma about part-time work and most employers would just say NEXT! if you said "please can I work 4 days a week for 80% pay?".

It is possible, you need to be at a company where work is viewed as work and the rest of your life as the rest of your life. Not all companies are like this, some companies think that your work is your life. With those companies they'd probably next you.

Then again, I'm just n=1.

Re: Belgium approves four-day week

#48
post #44
post #13

UAE switched to 36 hours workweek in January

Only for the UAE Government and Federal entities . Do not worry, the construction workers together with all the foreigner workforce will continue working 70h+ per week.

This was the hardest part about being in the country. Couldn’t enjoy the novelty of Abu Dhabi/Dubai because of the absolutely destitute conditions facing the vast majority of the “population”

Re: Belgium approves four-day week

#49
post #6

38 hours (the estimated work week) is exactly half of the 996 week (76 hours) of some companies in China. I don’t think that’s healthy, but if I had to bet, I’d pick the 76 hour workers outcompeting their 38 hour counterparts.

lol dem chinese comin for ya brother

Re: Belgium approves four-day week

#50
post #6

38 hours (the estimated work week) is exactly half of the 996 week (76 hours) of some companies in China. I don’t think that’s healthy, but if I had to bet, I’d pick the 76 hour workers outcompeting their 38 hour counterparts.

Consider this, imagine someone working every single waking minute at their job. Clearly they will not be very happy and after a time not very productive. So there exists some optimum level of productivity between 0 and 18 hours of work per day. The big question is whether it is closer to the 0 or closer to the 18. Currently there is some good evidence for it being in the 3-6 hour range(I don't have the studies on han…

> The big question is whether it is closer to the 0 or closer to the 18.

And to be sure, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. What the number is probably depends on the task at hand--though I would argue that (all other things being equal) it's probably closer to 0 than 18 for any job.

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