Lawmakers to consider petition calling for a four-day workweek

RIGA - The Saeima on Thursday voted to send to parliamentary committees a petition signed by 11,510 citizens of Latvia and calling for a transition to a four-day workweek. 

The proposal will be considered by the Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee, Social and Labor Affairs Committee and the Public Administration and Local Governments Committee. 

The initiative's author Denis Melehovs proposes amending work time provisions set out in Section 131 of the Labor Law.

Melehovs believes that giving working people more free time would increase their life satisfaction and creativity without reducing productivity. According to the initiative's author, people would also have more spare time for learning and personal growth, which would also have a positive effect on the economy. 

In 2019, the Odsherred Municipality in Demark introduced a 35 hour, 4 day workweek, allowing its 300 employees to take Fridays off in a three-year trial.