According to our survey: Working 36 hours in Luxembourg? “Fiasco” for some, “quality of life” for others
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According to our surveyWorking 36 hours in Luxembourg? “Fiasco” for some, “quality of life” for others
LUXEMBOURG – The debate on the reduction of divided working time at the highest level. So, should we work less? The readers of The essential responded to our survey and commented.
40 hours of work per week is the current model in Luxembourg. And if we go to 36? If this reduction is not planned at the highest level of the State, it is gaining ground, in particular defended by the socialist deputy Dan Kersch, former Minister of Labour. He reminds us that we work more in the Grand Duchy than in our neighbors and that moving the lines likely to better reconcile private and professional life.
“Yes, we have to go to 36 hours”, answered 30% of readers who took part in our survey launched online a few days ago. “For a year I have been working seven hours a day and I can tell you that it has changed my quality of life, I am less tired, more productive and always with a smile on my face”, validates a reader in a comment on Instagram. “No to keeping the 40 hours out of time! Going from 40 to 38 hours would already be quite a societal advance, ”said another reader on our site who also encountered a drop in traffic jams and sick leave in the balance.
Paying “the bill” is THE point of tension in each camp. “Such a generalized measure would sound the glass of the attractiveness of our economy and of the Luxembourg model in general”, had launched Carlo Thelen, director general of the Chamber of Commerce. According to one reader, on the contrary, it would be “a win-win situation. Nobody has to pay, since productivity would remain the same, or even increase thanks to a reduction in working time as in other European countries”. “An employee who works seven hours at the cleat is more efficient than an employee who has to work eight hours in slow motion”, demonstrates another comment.
“Four days with an interesting ”off” day”
9% of the 3,820 respondents believe, however, that Luxembourg should “above all not” adopt the 36-hour week. “Did the 36 hours in Belgium, the 35 hours in France give work to more people? asks a reader. “In France, it was a disaster. The Germans in rigorous recall. Keep your 40 hours a week,” advises another on lessentiel.lu. “Going to 36 hours will be a fiasco”, “40 hours is very good”, “Some believe that money grows on trees”, can we still read on the side of those who do not want to refuse time of work.
Everyone’s argument is financial: working less means earning less. “If people are ready to lose between 300 and 800 euros on their pay, let them do it, everyone sees noon at their door”, summarizes a comment. Others are more nuanced and put on an alternative: the four-day week. They are even 30% of our respondents to think that it is “a solution”. “This can make it possible to go to four times nine hours and therefore an ”off” day which can be interesting”, slips a reader.
“I’ve always worked 40 hours, but in recent years I’ve chosen to work 32 hours, so eight hours spread over four days a week. This allows me to have a long weekend and to be more present for my family, ”says an employee. Overall, readers of The essential admit that enshrining the 36 working hours in law would be “a very difficult and complex decision” that would not impact all employees and all sectors in the same way. 31% of people who responded to our survey simply plead for “greater flexibility”.
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(sl)