Free Republic

When it comes to the future of work, Japan is caught in a tug-of-war. Tokyo officials are pushing for a four-day workweek, hoping a shorter schedule will ease the nation’s notoriously punishing work culture and curb “karoshi”—which translates to death from overwork. With birthrates falling and burnout rising, many see the shift not as a perk, but a necessity for Japan’s economic survival. But the country’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, is signaling a very different approach. The 64-year-old drew scrutiny this month for summoning staff to a meeting at 3 a.m.—not for a national security crisis, but simply to...

The four-day workweek bill is back, but will it garner enough support from lawmakers this time around? Democratic Congressman Mark Takano of California has reintroduced the 32-Hour Workweek Act. The legislation aims to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and reduce the standard workweek from five days to four days, with no change to employee pay. Rep. Takano says it's a necessary culture shift that would give American workers more time for family, leisure and education. "Workers across the nation are collectively reimagining their relationship to labor — and our laws need to follow suit,” Takano said. “We have...

Work less, get more. A trial of a four-day workweek in Britain, billed as the world’s largest, has found that an overwhelming majority of the 61 companies that participated from June to December will keep going with the shorter hours and that most employees were less stressed and had better work-life balance. That was all while companies reported revenue largely stayed the same during the trial period last year and even grew compared with the same six months a year earlier, according to findings released this week. […] The university (of Cambridge)’s team worked with researchers from Boston College; Autonomy,...

Finland's new Prime Minister has called for the introduction of a flexible working schedule in the country that would involve a four-day-week and six-hour working day. Sanna Marin, 34, - who is the second youngest head of government in the world - said it would allow workers to spend more time with their families. The mother-of-one