Belgium will be able to work four days a week. On June 5438+05, local time, the Belgian government adopted a series of economic reform programs. According to this plan, Belgian workers can soon choose to work four days a week, and Belgium will be able to work four days a week.
Belgium will be able to implement a four-day work week 1. According to the British "Guardian" and other foreign media reports on June 5438+05, according to a series of economic reform plans announced by the Belgian government on Tuesday (June 5438+05), Belgian workers will soon be able to choose to work four days a week, and after work, they can either not answer work calls or reply to emails.
Extend working hours every day and get more rest days.
The Belgian government announced a series of economic reform measures on Tuesday. According to the reform plan, Belgian workers will soon be able to choose to work four days a week and get a three-day weekend by extending their working hours. According to Reuters, with the consent of the trade union, workers can work at most 10 hours a day, instead of the current maximum of 8 hours, thus reducing one working day per week, but the wages remain unchanged. In addition, Belgians can choose to accept more jobs in one week and reduce their jobs in the following week, so as to better manage their work and private lives, such as raising children together.
According to the new regulations, workers in the odd-job economy will also get stronger legal protection, and full-time employees will be able to flexibly arrange working hours as needed. According to the reform plan, the company can refuse the employee's request to shorten the working week, but it needs to be rejected in writing with reasonable reasons.
Commuters leave Brussels Schumann subway station Reuters data map
After work, employees can not answer the work phone.
According to the European News Network, the reform plan will also give workers the right to turn off work equipment and ignore work-related information after work. Companies with 20 or more employees are expected to provide employees with the option of "disconnecting" after work, which means they don't need to answer the phone or reply to emails between 0: 00 pm and 5: 00 am in 165438+.
Belgian Prime Minister Aleksander Decroux said at a news conference that the purpose of labor market reform is to create a more dynamic and productive economy. "The COVID-19 epidemic has forced us to work in a more flexible way," he said. The labor market must adapt to this situation. Our goal is to make workers and businesses stronger. "
The report also pointed out that it may take several months to incorporate the reform plan into the law.
Goal: Increase the employment rate to 80% by 2030.
Decroux said that the Belgian government needs to encourage more people to work. At present, the employment rate in Belgium is only 7 1.4%, which is 10 percentage point lower than that in the Netherlands and Germany. Belgium has set a goal of increasing the employment rate to 80% by 2030. Desclaud said that greater "employee freedom" is the key to increase the employment rate.
It is reported that from 20 15 to 20 19, Iceland tried out the four-day working day system, which has since become the choice of 85% working people in Iceland. Scotland will start a six-month four-day working week in 2023. The Scottish government will provide 65.438 billion pounds of funds to the participating companies.
Belgium will be able to implement a four-day work week. On June 5438+05, local time, the Belgian government adopted a series of economic reform plans. According to this plan, Belgian workers will soon be able to choose to work four days a week, turn off work equipment after work and ignore work news.
According to Reuters 15, in the draft reform plan released on the same day, the Belgian government indicated that its workers would soon be able to choose to achieve "three days off a week" by extending their working hours every day. According to the report, at present, the state stipulates that workers can work up to 8 hours a day, but after the implementation of the New Deal, once the trade union agrees, workers can work up to 10 hours a day in exchange for a rest day. Under this condition, they will get the same salary as before. In addition, workers can choose to work more hours in one week to reduce the working hours in the next week.
Belgian Prime Minister Decroux said at a news conference that the COVID-19 epidemic forced workers to adopt a "more flexible" work style and combine life and work. Decroux pointed out that the labor market must adapt to this situation, and the purpose of market reform is to make the economy more dynamic and productive.
The European News Network reported that in the new scheme, workers in the odd-job economy will also receive stronger legal protection, and full-time employees will be able to arrange their working hours more flexibly as needed. According to the report, the company has the right to refuse the employee's request to shorten the working day, but it must give the reasons for refusal in writing.
In addition, it is reported that in June 5438+ 10 this year, Belgian government employees were given the right to "disconnect", that is, employees were allowed to turn off related equipment after work and ignore work-related information. Decroo said that after the implementation of the reform plan, companies with 20 or more employees will also implement this policy.
Since the draft still needs to be deliberated by the parliament for many times before it can take effect, it may take several months to actually implement it. However, the report also said that once the reform is implemented, it will greatly affect the work-life balance of workers.
According to the British "Guardian" reported earlier, from 20 15 to 20 19, Iceland tried the four-day working system, which has since become the choice of nearly 85% of Iceland's working population. Scotland will start a six-month four-day work week in 2023, and the government will provide 6.5438 billion pounds (about 85.86 million yuan) to companies participating in the plan. In addition, the Japanese government also planned to promote the four-day work week last year, allowing employees to choose whether to rest for three or two days a week, so as to facilitate employees to take care of their families and improve the balance between work and life. But at present, there are still a few companies responding to this call.
Belgium will be able to implement a four-day work week. For many "workers", every minute of the weekend is precious. Every Sunday night comes, there is always an idea in my mind: if only I could have a longer rest time every week.
This idea may come true in Belgium. In the economic reform plan recently adopted by the Belgian government, employees can get longer weekends by extending their working hours, which means they can work four days a week.
According to the government's plan, employees can apply to change the working day from five days to four days, and the upper limit of working hours per day is raised from the original eight hours to 10 hours, with the same salary. Or you can choose to work longer hours in one week and reduce working hours in the next few weeks.
The company can refuse the employee's request to shorten the working week, but it needs to be rejected in writing with reasonable reasons.
In addition to changes in working hours, employees can also ignore work-related news after work. Companies with 20 or more employees may be allowed to "disconnect" after work, which means that employees don't have to answer the phone or reply to emails between 1 1 and 5 pm.
▲ Image from: Question Pro
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander Decroux said that the reason for this reform is to make the economy more dynamic, give workers more freedom and make workers and enterprises stronger. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic in the past two years, the labor market has changed, and we must adapt to a more flexible way of working.
Decrosse said that at present, only 7 1.4% of Belgians aged between 20 and 64 have jobs, which is lower than that of the Netherlands and Germany. The Belgian government hopes to increase the employment rate to 80% by 2030, so the government needs to encourage more people to work, and "employee freedom" is the key to increase the employment rate.
However, this reform plan will not be implemented immediately, and trade unions can still make comments, and the draft will be passed by the National Assembly. It may take several months to be incorporated into the law.
Besides Belgium, some countries are also trying to adjust people's working hours. For example, from 20 15 to 20 19, among 2500 workers in Iceland, the model of working only four days a week with the same salary was tried out, and the result was "overwhelming success".
These people who only work four days a week, their work efficiency has remained unchanged, even improved, anxiety and stress have decreased, and their health has improved.
▲ Iceland, image from: Unsplash
In addition, Scotland will try out a six-month four-day work week in 2023, and the government will also provide 6.5438+million pounds of funds for participating enterprises.
Some companies and institutions in Britain, Germany, Spain, Japan and New Zealand have also tried the four-day work week model.
In fact, in the China Leisure Green Book: 20 17-20 18 China Leisure Development Report, there is also such a suggestion: "four breaks and three breaks" in 2030. On the premise that China's labor productivity reaches a certain level, a 4-day (36-hour) working system of 9 hours a day and 4 days a week can be implemented. At that time, the state can cancel the golden week or small holiday system formed by borrowing after moving forward every year.
▲ Image from: Unsplash
As early as 18 10, the socialist Robert Owen put forward the slogan of "eight hours of work, eight hours of sleep and eight hours of leisure".
Whether it is an eight-hour working system or a four-day working system, the change of working hours is to hope that workers can work and live better.
I hope that the day when we have a longer rest every week will not be too far away.