What countries work only four days?
According to a World Population Review report, the countries that have experimented with the four-day work week are mainly European; however, you can also see countries in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania. These countries work between 29 to 36 hours a week.
- Australia
- Belgium
- Canada
- Denmark
- Finland
- Germany
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Japan
- Lithuania
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Scotland
- Spain
- Sweden
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- USA
In addition to the government-implemented tests of four-day work weeks, many individual companies or municipalities have conducted their own tests.
The best known of these tests was conducted by Microsoft Japan, which tested a four-day work week in 2019 and experienced a 39.9% increase in productivity . In another highly publicized case, Perpetual Guardian, a New Zealand-based estate planner, switched to a permanent four-day workweek after a 2018 trial resulted in a 20% increase in productivity.
Mexico and the four-day work week
Currently, Article 123 of the Constitution establishes that in any employment contract the duration of the maximum working day will be eight hours a day. While if you work a night shift it must be seven hours.
In addition, the Law also stipulates that for every six days of work, at least one day of rest must be enjoyed.
However, the outlook in Mexico could change, as the Chamber of Deputies approved an opinion on mandatory rest days for workers. The opinion has already been approved, but it still needs to be discussed and analyzed by the deputies, if approved it must also be sent to the Senate of the Republic to be approved in its entirety.