Thoughts? Longer work days for a three-day weekend...
Three-day weekends sound amazing, but at what cost?
Danny Guselli is inviting KwaZulu-Natal to share their thoughts on longer work days and three-day weekends.
The idea of a four-day work week became a topic on everyone's lips when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Many companies transitioned into a work-from-home structure, which continued well after the pandemic.
While there are many benefits to working from home, in some cases, it has also negatively impacted some employees. With many unable to 'shut down' or 'switch off' after the work day has ended. This has led to things such as burnout, stress, mental health issues and even a toxic workplace culture.
Countries such as Belgium, Lithuania, and Iceland have adopted the four-day work week into legislation. The benefits include a healthy work-life balance, a flexible approach to task performance, and support for working parents, among others.
The Labour Guide said that South Africa wouldn't be able to make the transition into a four-day work week as seamlessly because our country is "highly regulated in respect of its labour and employment laws. It has been argued that it would not be as seamless or easy an exercise to implement in comparison to these countries."
Today, Danny is seeking your input on two ideas: increasing the daily work hours to achieve a three-day weekend or maintaining the current two-day weekend schedule.
The idea differs from the four-day work week model in that it involves more hours in a day. This raises the question of whether time management is the underlying cause of end-of-year burnout.
How many employees can say that they spend their full 8-hour days solely focusing on work?
Read more: Team building versus year-end function?
Ideally, if South Africa were to adopt the four-day work week model, employees would adhere to their regular work hours to complete their tasks, which typically span over a five-day work week.
The question isn't whether we would be open to a three-day weekend (that answer is obvious), but how we can create a workplace that prioritises quality over quantity, so that we can realistically work towards a four-day work week?
That way, we can strike a better balance between our work and personal life, reduce stress and mental health issues, all because we were able to increase our productivity.
HOW TO LISTEN TO EAST COAST RADIO
- Listen to East Coast Radio on the FM (frequency modulation) spectrum between 94 and 95 FM on your radio.
- Listen live to ECR by clicking here or download the ECR App (iOS/Android).
- Listen to East Coast Radio on the DStv audio bouquet, channel 836.
- Switch to the audio bouquet on your Openview decoder and browse to channel 606
- Listen to us on Amazon Alexa.
Follow us on social media:
Image Courtesy of iStock