labor market reform
Belgium introduces the right to a four-day week
Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander de Croo wants to reduce unemployment with the four-day week.
© Eric Lalmand / Picture Alliance
Belgium introduces the right to a four-day week nationwide. In future, employees should be able to decide for themselves whether to take three days off per week. There is a catch, however.
In the future, employees in Belgium will have the right to work only four days a week without having to accept a drop in wages. This is the result of a labor market reform in response to the corona pandemic. As announced by Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander de Croo, the aim of the reform is to create a more dynamic and productive economy.
“If you compare our country to others, you realize that we are far less dynamic,” said de Croo. “After two difficult years, the labor market has developed further. With this agreement, we are setting the standards for a good economy.”
Belgium introduces the right to a four-day week – working hours remain the same
The core of the reform is the possibility of being able to distribute working hours independently. However, De Croo emphasized that this does not mean that the total working time will decrease. In the future, anyone who manages to work the weekly hours specified in the employment contract on four days can take an additional day off.
Although companies will continue to have the right to refuse this to their employees in the future, they must justify this in writing. Allowing workers to work longer hours to earn a three-day weekend was part of a package of economic reforms agreed by the ruling coalition on Tuesday.
Four-day week also an issue in other European countries
Belgium is not the first country in Europe to give workers the option of more flexible working hours. Iceland tested a similar scheme between 2015 and 2019. Almost 85 percent of employees now opt for the option of a three-day weekend.
Such a test has also been running in Scotland since last month, for which the Scottish government has provided a fund of 10 million pounds for the participating companies.
In Wales, Commissioner for Future Generations Sophie Howe called on the Government to introduce an option for the public sector to have a four-day week.
In Belgium, however, not only the good will of the government is decisive for the reform. The country has been struggling with high unemployment for years. Only 71.4 percent of people between the ages of 20 and 64 have a job – almost ten percentage points less than in Germany or France. De Croo said the government needs to encourage more people to take up employment.
Among other things, with the introduction of more flexible working hours, the government wants to reduce unemployment to below 20 percent by 2030.
“More freedom for workers”, according to De Croo, is the key to increasing the employment rate. However, the reforms also target rigid regulations that have long been opposed by business associations.
Companies with 20 or more employees are expected to offer their employees the opportunity to “switch off” after work hours. This means they don’t have to take calls or answer emails between 11pm and 5am.
Employees should also have the opportunity to request a change in their working hours from week to week and can expect a reasoned response from the employer as to whether their hours will be approved or not. Employees with variable working hours must therefore know their working hours seven days in advance.
However, the new labor law provides that the night surcharge only comes into effect after midnight and not from 8 p.m. as before.