The coronavirus pandemic has led to a massive change in perspective on how people view the importance of physical and mental health. In a bid to achieve work-life balance, many countries over the past two years have resorted to a four day work week. These countries including Scotland, Spain, Japan, Finland and Iceland tested four-day working weeks last year. And the UAE became the first country to actually implement a four-day workweek official in December 2021. Joining the list, Belgium is all set to offer employees a four-day workweek.
Belgium Offers Four Day Work Week For Employees Without Salary Cut
A report by NDTV revealed that Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced a major change in labour laws in the Covid era. He stated to journalists that the coronavirus pandemic has forced people to work more flexibly and the labour market needs to adapt to this too. This includes an eye-ball grabbing right to turn off work devices and ignore work-related messages post office hours. This is an initiative to enhance the quality of life of Belgians and promote a better work-life balance.
Also Read: India May Implement 4-Day Work Week With Salary Changes; Here’s Everything To Know
Also Read: Finland’s PM Proposes 4 Day Work Week And 6 Hour Workday
Employees Can Have Better Work-Life Balance
The new measures include permitting employees to work four days a week instead of five and clock up to 28 hours of work per week. There is a possibility to enjoy permanent long weekends or a day to get off work and spend time with children. The best part is that Belgians can enjoy all these benefits without any reduction in salary. Employees can enjoy the flexibility of clocking in more hours in one week, to enjoy a lighter next week. These changes won’t be implemented effectively. Moreover, the boss needs to approve these employee requests, to manage flexibility at the workplace. The other labour reforms in Belgium include employee access to training and a test programme that permits night-work for workers in the e-commerce sector. Meanwhile, here’s a throwback video of work from home video calls amid the lockdown.