Last week we witnessed further developments in the trend of countries introducing a 4-day working week, with the Belgian government announcing a new law that will introduce the right for employees to request to work the same number of hours in a compressed 4-day week. If companies refuse the request, they will be required to justify the refusal in writing. While such a law may have a similar structure to the UK’s current flexible working laws, it undoubtedly places greater emphasis on the move to a 4-day week. The Belgian government believe such a move will create a more dynamic and productive economy.
The Belgian’s governments announcement is the latest in a sharp rise in countries announcing trial runs for the 4-day working week, with Scotland, England & Wales, Spain, the US, Canada and Australia, all announcing the new initiatives.
It is clear that the trend towards introducing greater flexibility for the workforce has continued to increase in the early months of 2022 as businesses start to consider new ways of working in a post-Covid landscape. If you would like to find out more about introducing flexible working policies in the workplace, or how to deal with flexible working requests that are made by your employees, please do not hesitate to contact our experienced Employment Team today.
