Belgium government discusses moving to four-day week

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The Belgian government has agreed to vote on a countrywide introduction of a four-day working week.

The federal government will consider the proposal next week in what is the latest move towards a more flexible working future in Europe.

A recent trial conducted in Iceland earlier this year led to almost nine in ten Icelandic workers renegotiating contracts with permanently shortened hours.

Meanwhile, a number of companies in Spain are currently trialing a four-day week after a small political party's proposal was accepted by the wider government late last year.  

But there are concerns over the Belgium government's plans to introduce longer working hours as a trade-off for giving employees the extra day away.

While all of Belgium's political parties have agreed to discuss the proposal for a four-day week, there is no intention to reduce the overall number of hours worked by employees.

Instead, the Parliament is expected to maintain the 38-40 hours worked by full-time employees, and extend the existing working day to 9.5 hours in exchange for giving employees the extra day off.

This proposal sets Belgium's flexible working concept apart from those of Iceland and Spain, where the extra day off is afforded to employees by simply cutting the number of hours worked in a week. 

Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk