Six-hour day

The six-hour day is a schedule by which the employees or other members of an institution (which may also be, for example, a school) spend six hours contributing. This is in contrast to the widespread eight-hour day, or any other time arrangement. It has also been proposed as a better alternative to the four-day week, another proposed way to reduce working time.^[1]

By country

Australia

In Australia, the six-hour day and four-day week is supported by the Australian Greens.^[2] The Communist Party of Australia advocates for a reduced working week (35 hours).^[3]

Finland

In 2020, the Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin advocated for a change towards implementing a six-hour working day.^[4]

The result of a Finnish study showed positive effects.^[5]

The Communist Party of Finland is advocating for six-hour working day too.^[6]

Italy

The Communist Party (Italy) advocates for a six-hour workday.^[7]

Norway

The Red Party (Norway) has advocated for a six-hour workday.^[8]

Sweden

The 6 hour workday has been subject to reoccurring debate since the early 70's after the prominent sociologist and politician Alva Myrdal proposed to implement it to Sveriges socialdemokratiska kvinnoförbund.^[9] Today there are more than a few examples of companies which already have a 6 hour workday in Sweden, and the notion of a trend towards a six-hour workday has also been mentioned.^{[10][11][12][13][14]} Since 2002 there is a workplace with a 6 hour workday in the small town of Mölndal.^[11] This led to higher profitability, implemented without any decrease in wages. One of the people who works at the company claimed that "You have more energy. You're more alert. More efficient. I promise: you perform 20-30% more in six hours than eight." ("Man orkar mera. Är piggare. Effektivare. Jag lovar: Man presterar 20–30 procent mer på sex timmar än på åtta.")^{[citation needed]} Several small-scale implementations of the concept have been trialed in Sweden, including the private and public sectors.^[5][15] In Gothenburg, an experiment with 70 nurses over 18 months found decreases in sick leave, better self-reported health as well as an increase in productivity, with a cost of 1,3 million USD.^[16]

Two major parties support cutting the working hours in Sweden as of 2022. The party Vänsterpartiet (the left party) is advocating a 6 hour working day without decreased pay.^[17][18] Miljöpartiet de gröna (The green party) has the goal of a 30 hour workweek.^[18]

Other parties advocating for 6 hour working day are: the Communist Party of Sweden^[19] and the Communist Party (sweden).^[20]

About half of Swedes would rather have to work fewer hours rather than getting paid more, with women being more positive towards more free time.^[21] The majority of Swedes are in favour of shorter working weeks, with the greatest support from women and people who are engaged in so called blue-collar jobs.^[22]

Switzerland

The Swiss Party of Labour advocates for the introduction of a reduced working day (even though they ask for 35 hours, not 30).^[23]

See also

• Critique of work
• 35-hour workweek
• Four-day workweek
• Three-Day Week
• Working time
• Weekend

References

1. Veal, Anthony (13 January 2020). "Time's up for the 9-to-5 — a six-hour working day is the future". ABC News. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
2. "Australian party pitches four-day working week". BBC News. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
3. "Employment". CPA. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
4. "Finland Is Rallying Around a Six-Hour Workday — And So Should We". Jacobin. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
5. "Sex timmars arbetsdag, en väg till både hälsa och effektivitet?". miun.se (in Swedish). 30 May 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
6. "SKP:n puolueohjelma". Suomen kommunistinen puolue (in Finnish). 1 July 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
7. "Programma del Partito Comunista - Elezioni elettorali 2018" (PDF). dait.interno.gov.it. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
8. "Six-hour workday". Rødt. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
9. "Visst funkar sex timmars arbetsdag". Chef (in Swedish). 8 October 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
10. "Trenden med sex timmars arbetsdag fortsätter". Chef (in Swedish). 28 October 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
11. "Här tjänar alla på sex timmars arbete". Dagens Arbete (in Swedish). 30 January 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
12. "Klockan fyra är bara chefen kvar". Chef (in Swedish). 16 June 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
13. "Byrån införde sex timmars arbetsdag – affärerna går som tåget". www.resume.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 26 May 2022.
14. "Sex timmars arbetsdag gav resultat direkt". Chef (in Swedish). 11 February 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
15. Savage, Maddy (2 November 2015). "The truth about Sweden's short working hours". Retrieved 16 January 2020.
16. Savage, Maddy (8 February 2017). "What really happened when Swedes tried six-hour days?". Retrieved 16 January 2020.
17. "Mer tid för att leva, vi är för arbetstidsförkortning". Vänsterpartiet (in Swedish). Retrieved 26 May 2022.
18. Marklund, Ingrid (16 May 2014). "Bara ett parti driver 6 timmars arbetsdag". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). Retrieved 26 May 2022.
19. "Kommunisternas partiprogram". Sveriges Kommunistiska Parti (in Swedish). 5 July 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
20. admin (3 June 2009). "Kommunistiska Partiets program". Kommunistiska Partiet (in Swedish). Retrieved 8 August 2023.
21. "Sifo: Kortare arbetstid viktigare än högre lön – Arbetet" (in Swedish). 18 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
22. "Island drar ner på arbetstiden". Arbetaren. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
23. "Il nostro programma – POP Ticino" (in Italian). Retrieved 9 August 2023.

Further reading

• The Case for the 6-Hour Workday. Author - Steve Glaveski. Published 11 December 2018. Harvard Business Review.