Japanese Politicians Are Pushing to Give Everyone 4-Day Work Weeks



The politician from the Liberal Democratic Party is spearheading the push for a bill that would give workers a three-day weekend without affecting job security. About the bill: House of Councilors member Kuniko Inoguchi, who represents a district of Chiba Prefecture, saw the potential to introduce the bill after the successful implementation of four-day workweeks by a few Japanese companies in the past, according to Sankei Shimbun via SoraNews24.

“We have seen that Japan has a latent ability to create flexible work environments and workstyles,” the politician said.

In 2019, Microsoft Japan gave its workers three-day weekends for the entire month of August. The experiment — which the company called the Work-Life Choice Challenge Summer 2019 — was a huge success, and Microsoft Japan saw a nearly 40% increase in productivity.

Mizuho Financial Group introduced a similar experiment last year, giving its workers the freedom to take four-day weekends.

The government is willing to hand out financial incentives to encourage smaller companies to support the proposed bill.

Pros and cons: The bill would give workers the option to take a three-day weekend whenever they'd like. This would boost team productivity and provide both company employees and the general public with various benefits amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

One benefit is the reduced number of workers taking public vehicles and spending time with other people. The bill would help support the fight against COVID-19.

Three-day weekends could also give employees plenty of opportunities to spend time with their families and pursue other ways to earn money or further their education.

However, there are problems that employees must keep in mind. One issue is a cut in one's salary, for workers might only receive 80% of it due to working four days instead of five.

The pay cut could also change an employee's status from full-time to part-time, but workers who take three-day weekends would still keep their jobs and the benefits that full-time workers receive.