The author of the initiative proposes limiting the weekly working time to 32 hours without loss of earnings
A petition for a four-day work week has been registered on the government website, garnering over 15.8 thousand votes. To be officially considered by the Cabinet of Ministers, the initiative must receive support from at least 25 thousand citizens. This was reported by Minfin, according to the portal PromPolitInform.
The author of the appeal, Anna Pavlenko, proposes setting the weekly labor quota at 32 hours. A key condition of the initiative is the preservation of full wages and the right to leave for employees.
In the initiator’s opinion, the reform should be implemented in stages. The first phase proposes launching a mandatory state pilot project covering a specific list of budgetary institutions, private enterprises, and individual sectors. Only after analyzing the results of such an experiment does the author call for scaling the schedule to the entire country by introducing relevant amendments to the Labor Code.
Argumentation and international experience
The need for such changes is primarily justified by the mental health state of Ukrainians, who are under constant pressure due to shelling and general stress during the war. According to the text of the petition, working for five or six days increases the risks of professional burnout and depression.
The author refers to the successful results of implementing a four-day work week in countries such as the UK, Ireland, Spain, and Iceland. According to her data, such schedule transformations contributed to a 15–35% increase in labor productivity. In addition to the social effect, this should bring economic benefits to the state by reducing costs for sick leave payments and personnel replacement.
It is worth noting that current legislation under martial law allows employers the right to change salary levels even when the length of the working day remains unchanged. Although under normal conditions worsening pay terms requires two months’ notice, the current legal regime allows for a simplified procedure.
Illustrative photo: VeronicaTherese / CC BY-SA 3.0
