No matter where you work or how much you love your job, everyone looks forward to the weekend.
And when Sunday evening approaches at rapid speed, it’s not uncommon to feel like the weekend has been too short.
Well, there’s some good news out of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos - last week the debate about whether a three day weekend is a win for employers and employees was put on the table.
Psychologist Adam Grant and author Rutger Bregman presented the benefits of working less and resting more in one week.
The four-day working week might be closer than you think. Psychologist Adam Grant ( @adammgrant) and author Rutger Bregman ( @rcbregman) explain the benefits of working less. @wharton #wef19 pic.twitter.com/R6f0L8HHYs
— World Economic Forum (@wef) January 24, 2019
It might sound far-fetched especially back home here in SA, but it’s an idea that has already been discussed in Cape Town.
In 2017, then Cape Town Mayor Patricia De Lille has already suggested to business owners to allow their staff to work more flexible hours and even shift their working hours. Traffic congestion was and still is a major headache in the Mother City and the thinking was that if everyone didn’t start work at the same time, peak hour traffic would be eased somewhat.
The biggest hurdle in SA would be changes to the Labour Law and the effect this would have on the economy. Keeping in mind that when employees work overtime and on weekends, employees are legally bound to pay them more than their normal rates.
But there is academic studies to back up that adding an extra weekend would not be a bad thing.
Grant told the WEF: “I think we have some good experiments showing that if you reduce work hours, people are able to focus their attention more effectively, they end up producing just as much, often with higher quality and creativity, and they are also more loyal to the organisations that are willing to give them the flexibility to care about their lives outside of work.”