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July 6, 2021 10:30 AM By Amy Woodyatt, CNN Business
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Trials of a shorter working week in Iceland have been hailed as an overwhelming success by researchers. Researchers said that productivity and services stayed the same or improved across the majority of trial workplaces.
Trials of a shorter working week in Iceland have been hailed as an “overwhelming success” by researchers.
Public sector employees taking part in two large trials between 2015 and 2019 worked 35-36 hours per week, with no reduction in pay. Many participants had previously worked 40 hours a week.
The trials run by Reykjavík City Council and the national government saw worker wellbeing “dramatically” increase across a range of indicators, from perceived stress and burnout, to health and work-life balance, according to researchers from think tank Autonomy and research organization the Association for Sustainable Democracy (Alda).
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Researchers in Iceland have found that a four-day work week, without a pay cut, improved workersâ wellbeing and productivity.
For four years, researchers tracked 2500 employees who reduced their work week to 35 to 36 hours, according to a study published by Autonomy, a progressive think tank based in the United Kingdom. Researchers found that âworker wellbeing dramatically increased across a range of indicators, from perceived stress and burnout, to health and work-life balanceâ.
In Iceland on average, most employees work 40 hours a week and it is illegal to work more than 13 hours a day. Â
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At the same time, productivity remained the same or improved for the majority of workplaces, the study said. Participants worked at various places such as hospitals, offices, playschools and social service offices.
Shorter working week trials an overwhelming success in Iceland
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Amy Woodyatt, CNN Business
Published Jul 7, 2021 6:18:06 AM
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(CNN) Trials of a shorter working week in Iceland have been hailed as an overwhelming success by researchers.
Public sector employees taking part in two large trials between 2015 and 2019 worked 35-36 hours per week, with no reduction in pay. Many participants had previously worked 40 hours a week.
The trials run by Reykjavík City Council and the national government saw worker wellbeing dramatically increase across a range of indicators, from perceived stress and burnout, to health and work-life balance, according to researchers from think tank Autonomy and research organization the Association for Sustainable Democracy (Alda).
Iceland has achieved the holy grail for working stiffs: same pay for shorter hours.
Results from two trials of reduced hours showed no productivity loss or decline in service levels, while employees reported less stress and an improved work-life balance, researchers at U.K.-based think tank Autonomy and Icelandâs Association for Sustainable Democracy said in a report.
Achieving shorter hours with sustained productivity and service levels involved rethinking how tasks were completed, according to the report. That included shortening meetings or replacing them with emails, cutting out unnecessary tasks, and rearranging shifts.
The trials, conducted from 2015 to 2019, cut hours to about 35 a week from 40 with no reduction in pay. Involving about 2,500 workers, equivalent to more than 1% of the Nordic countryâs working population, results showed their âwell-being dramatically increased,â the researchers said. Since then, 86% of Icelandâs entire working populat