On the fifth day, there will be shifts, where employees will take turns
Belgrade – At a time when Belgium is seriously preparing for the introduction of a four-day working week, Serbia has officially received the first company to work four days a week.
After a test or trial period that lasted a full five months, the company officially announced yesterday that in the future, employees will work four days a week. On the fifth day, there will be shifts, where employees will take turns.
The results during the test period in the company ManpowerGroup, showed that the productivity of employees has increased, and it was emphasized that according to this principle of work, the salary of employees will remain the same, Blic reported.
Workers in Belgium will soon be able to choose a four-day work week as part of a series of labor market reforms. The reform package agreed by the country’s multi-party coalition government will also give workers the right to turn off work equipment and ignore messages about work after hours without fear of retaliation.
In the meantime, several companies have tested this possibility. The results showed that employees became more productive because they spent less time on social networks and non-work activities.
One New Zealand employee surveyed said he stopped looking at messages sent to him by his wife because he was so focused on work. Many companies have asked themselves the question: “Why not pay for work results, instead of days spent in the office?”
Microsoft also tested work four days a week, and the results were surprising – worker productivity increased by 40 percent. Many other companies have shown almost identical results, as well as domestic experiences dating back several decades.
The workers of Javor from Ivanjica, a company that was known in the time of the SFRY as one of the largest domestic exporters in the field of textile industry, founded in 1948, remember the reduced working hours well. In the eighties, they had 3,700 people on their payroll, they made more than 10 million pieces a year… And not only that, they did what many big world companies do today – they shortened working hours and showed that it was a good choice.
“They shortened the working day from eight to six hours and the results were amazing. Productivity increased by 30 percent, the number of sick leave decreased… There were fewer absences, workers were happier. We were pioneers in that,” he told. “Blic Biznis” is the president of the Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions of Serbia (ASNS) Ranka Savić.
Our interlocutor now claims that it is very important to start thinking about such a practice again and give a person a longer period for upgrading, family, social and cultural life. Because, as he claims, more time for himself means greater satisfaction, and that brings higher productivity at work.
“Epidemics and experiences around the world have shown that shorter working weeks and four-day working hours do not mean that work would suffer. On the contrary, the practice and research of large companies have shown the opposite. We have the latest examples. time, and that they increased productivity by 38 percent “, says Savić.
New Zealand plans to help the country’s tourism and economy recover by introducing a four-day work week.
The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jasinda Ardern, marked the tourist sector of that country, which employs 15% of the population, as a part of the economy that can benefit greatly from people who rest three days a week.
The idea was supported in Canada, where John Trugakos, an associate professor of Rotmans School of Management at the University of Toronto, pointed out that now is “an opportunity to redesign the way we do things to improve them in the long run.”
Trugakos researched how to make jobs and people healthier and more productive for more than 12 years, and said that four-day work weeks could be useful, Kurir writes.
