Reduction of working hours: allowances for employees

From next July 15, millions of Colombian workers will reduce Working hours per week When Law 2101 of 2021 comes into force, which provides for the transition from a 48-hour week to a 47-hour one.

(Reduction of the working day in Colombia: in these cases this does not apply.)

The law amends Article 161 of the Substantive Labor Law f Through it, a gradual reduction will be made until reaching 42 hours per week in the year 2026.

The initiative seeks to give workers more free time for their families or for other activities, without affecting the companies’ productivity and competitiveness.

Colombia is not the only country that is reducing working hours for its workers. Portugal, England, Norway and Denmark, among others, have modified their working hours, drastically reducing the load to the point of working only 4 days a week.

In fact, this business proposal is on the table of thousands of companies around the world that seek the well-being of their employees, but What are the benefits of a 4 day work day?

(Which companies should reduce their hours and what is the risk by not doing so).

In the UK, 61 organizations took part in a study in which they committed to reducing their employees’ working hours by up to 20%, and moved from working five days a week to just four for all employees.

The study, organized by 4 Day Week Global, was conducted between June and December 2022. During this six-month period, the salaries of the company’s 2,900 employees were not affected and they continued to receive the same monthly salary they were receiving before the experiment. , without any decrease.

The research was conducted by social scientists from the University of Cambridge, who collaborated with several academics from Boston College in the US and the Autonomy Research Center.

The results of this study were surprising. After the sociologists were responsible for comprehensively interviewing nearly 3,000 workers who were part of the experiment.

(What are the effects of reducing working hours on wages?).

According to the information collected, it was confirmed that stress levels had decreased significantly, 39% indicated that they were less stressed, and 71% stated that there was less stress, after working for four days a week.

But the most surprising thing about the study is that disease rates dropped dramatically, There were 65% fewer absences due to disability and corporate resignations decreased by 57%.

On the other hand, the experience showed lower levels of anxiety and fatigue and improved mental and physical health in a large part of the employees. In addition, some companies revealed that in the testing period revenues and profits benefited, rising between 0.1% and 1.4%.

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