In a bid to improve the lives of its working population, Belgium on Tuesday announced that it would start trials of a four-day work week, joining a slew of other countries who have experimented with similar measures in the recent past.

Announcing the overhaul of labour laws in the country, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo told the press, “We have experienced two difficult years. With this agreement, we set a beacon for an economy that is more innovative, sustainable and digital. The aim is to be able to make people and businesses stronger.”

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However, Belgian labour minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne clarified that a four-day work week is optional and the decision to opt for it would reside with workers, not organisations, saying, “This has to be done at the request of the employee, with the employer giving solid reasons for any refusal.”

Under the new initiative, Belgium is not completely slashing a day’s worth of work, but is rather condensing a five day, 38-hour work week into an optional four-day work week that would require workers to put in more hours per day.

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The new initiative will be tested for a trial period of six-months, following which a call will be taken on its long-term suitability.

The four-day work week trial in Belgium is yet another measure taken by the government to improve the lives of its working population: earlier, on February 1, 2022, the country implemented a “right to disconnect” that effectively banned civil services bosses from contacting employees after work hours, a move that was welcomed by many among Belgium’s 65,000 civil service workers.

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Belgium, however, is not the first country to implement a four-day work week. In 2021, Spain, Scotland, and Japan announced that they would test a four-day work week through trials, while Iceland had experimented with the idea earlier.

In 2022, the UAE also announced trials of a four-and-a-half-day work week, and a bill seeking similar measures has been introduced in the US as well.