Here’s a short 4-day work week – here’s the place!

smart working, short work week, The new challenges that the pandemic has created are many. The world of work has experienced years of profound change and also corporate realities that were based on physical presence Employees and employees have changed their organization,

now what happened, Looks like the pandemic is coming to a close? it will return to the position where Will everyone go back to the company by 2019?

they will still be there Professional flexibility related to working from home, And will the examples of reduction in the days of the work week be more widespread? Let’s try to analyze all these issues in the article. Starting with who is experiencing a 4 day week. and in Italy How is the situation?

Work week and smart working

There pandemic in these two years globally Is Changed a lot of work habits. Many companies, businesses, banks and other types of economic activity have had to deal with flexible forms of work. Smart working where possible has become one of the most popular words and habits.

now from here a depending on the development of the epidemic There will be different states and different companies to control this situation.

Even if it feels like the pandemic has marked a mark: working from home is possible in some situations and so will remain forms of smart working There is also hope in the future that the Covid-19 pandemic may be very close to a definitive exit.

Short Work Week: Four Working Days

Let us now explore a parallel topic. that short work week, If smart working mainly a Epidemic speech that the four-day work week is a situation that has been talked about for some time, And there have been those in which in the meantime it has already been implemented. or is it being tested

Let us analyze this situation which shows a profound shift between people and their work. between the hours devoted to work and Hours that can be devoted to other activities.

Short work week: status of working hours in different countries

as it states Corriere della Sera. An interesting investigation conducted by It was one of the last countries to make this change in chronological order to a shorter 4-day work week. Belgium.

The country has decided to make this switch. Eurostat has compiled data showing how many hours Average employed people spend on work. The European average that emerges is 37 hours per week.

Poland, Turkey and the Balkan countries have the longest week with 40 hours. the shortest week is what you have France, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark and Switzerland as well as Holland with a 35-hour week.

4-day work week in Belgium: Here’s the news

The announcement was made very recently. from there Last February 15 in Belgium An experiment is officially launched which takes from 5 working days to 4 a week. all clearly a equal pay.

This announcement was made by the Prime Minister of Belgium. alexander de croz, decided to Regulation on many aspects related to the world of work.

In addition to this Reduction in weekly working days, for example, the right to disconnect has also been approved. That is, the employee can turn off the equipment after official working hours and not respond to work messages.

To employees Belgium Will be given a chance to prove the position. You can ask to be able to try the shorter week for a trial period of six months. At the end of this period workers will be able to decide whether to retain this work organization or return to the traditional structure.

Of course, it should be made clear – even if it is understood – that there is no reduction in working hours in Belgium. This is a concentration of the same work schedule that is made in the country on an average of 38 hours over four days and no longer exceeds 5 days.

Short 4-day working week: from 2022 it also reached UAE

2022 was the year in which the short week also came United Arab Emirates. As shown by Corriere della Sera, in this case it is not four working days but a week of four and a half working days.

from there From January 1, 2022, this possibility is also effective for public sector employees, schools and private entities.

Companies in the United Arab Emirates currently have some difficulties introducing the position as only 23% of private companies said they would implement this new possibility to make it shorter work weeks.

Short 4-day work week: pilot project also launched in Scotland

me too Scotland for example Belgium We are looking at an experiment of a 4 day work week. Scotland is experiencing a 20% reduction in working hours without any reduction in pay, due to a commitment made by the Scottish National Party.

The measure is funded by the government with a commitment of more than £10 million. There are Scottish companies that have already started the phase Experiment with this new model.

Short 4-Day Working Weeks: Situations in Northern European Countries

Often when we talk about the world of work and welfare and policies we take country countries for example Northern Europe which has taken the lead in many areas.

Underline action from Iceland Which reduced the weekly working hours from 40 to 35 without any pay cut in 2015. Now 86% of Iceland’s population have short working weeks.

Scandinavian countries also have significant benefits for people: for example Sweden On average you work six hours a day. In Norway Employees who have recently become parents are entitled to the deduction and Denmark has a model that allows Average of 33 weekly working hours.

4-Day Work Week: And Where Are We in Italy?

And in Italy? currently no status National use in Italy of these measures that bring the work week to 4 days, It was spoken in our country often in the presence of different governments To implement a system that involves a short week at work but has never come to a decision on the matter.

although there are some Companies in our country who are giving life to autonomous experiments are setting themselves apart on this aspect.

Two main realities have come into the limelight. In Milan, for example, there is Carter and BensonWhich deals with Strategic Consulting and which introduced a 36 hour shortened week at the beginning of January 2021.

CEO of Carter & Benson, As shown in this article by colleague Deborah Bertolino, argues that

“The short week is the result of a journey that began many years ago, in which we worked on three core values, trust, responsibility and autonomy”.

The second Italian company engaged in this field is Evin Italy, a company that deals with marketing. it started in the experience 2020 in full pandemic.

of this period Pushed smart working, the company has established a 32-hour work week.