A petition for a 4-day workweek with full pay has received over 15,000 votes
The initiative's author proposes reducing working hours to 32 hours per week and initially conducting an experiment in certain sectors
An online petition to introduce a four-day workweek is gathering signatures in Ukraine. As of 28 August it has been supported by more than 15,000 people of the required 25,000. 36 days remain until the end of the signature collection.
The initiative’s author, Anna Pavlenko, proposes reducing working hours to 32 hours per week while maintaining employees’ full pay.
According to the author, the new model does not need to be implemented nationwide immediately. The four-day week could first be tested in certain industries, government institutions and private companies. After the experiment, its results would be evaluated and a decision made whether to extend this format to the whole of Ukraine.
The need for change in the petition is explained by prolonged stress due to the war and professional burnout. In Anna Pavlenko‘s view, an additional day off could help people better combine work and personal life, fall ill less often and work more effectively.
At the same time, the State Employment Service previously said that a transition to a four-day workweek during the war does not currently seem realistic.
“Talking about a transition of Ukraine to a four-day workweek during the war would be strange. Ukrainians are either in the armed forces or for the armed forces,” the agency said.
Currently, the standard duration of the workweek in Ukraine is 40 hours. A reduced work schedule may be set for certain categories of workers. During martial law, under certain conditions, the workweek for critical infrastructure workers may last up to 60 hours.
If the petition gains the required 25,000 votes, it will be considered by the Government. However, this does not mean an automatic introduction of the four-day workweek. Changes to labor legislation will be required for that.
It was previously reported that in May this year wages in the Mykolaiv region increased slightly. At the same time, arrears to employees increased significantly and reached almost 89 million hryvnias.
Source: the petition.
