Survey reveals positive impact of shorter working week

Iceland

Nearly two out of three public employees are satisfied with the shortening of the working week, according to a survey reported by the BSRB public services federation. The results show that satisfaction is much higher among state and local government employees than among employees in other sectors. A total of 64% of civil servants say they are very or rather satisfied with the cut, with about 17% saying they are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied and about 18% saying they are very or rather dissatisfied. The difference between sectors appears to relate to the different way in which the cuts in working hours were agreed. In the public sector the hours reductions were implemented automatically while in other sectors the timetable was different and over a fifth of workplace had not yet introduced any changes. The survey also showed that women are much happier with the shortening than men – 62% compared to 45%.

BSRB

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