The Belgium Conundrum: Is a Four-Day Work Week Possible?
Recently, Belgium became the latest country to enact a four-day work week, giving their workers the right to a longer weekend and more days off. Additionally, the reform package gives workers the right to turn off their work devices without fear of reprisal.
I’m sure many Americans are looking at Belgium with some longing, as we’re the most overworked nation in the world. Studies show that Americans work an “average of 435 more hours per year than German workers, 400 more hours per year than United Kingdom (UK) workers, 365 more hours per year than French workers, and 169 more hours per year than Japanese workers,” according to 20 Something Finance.
I won’t get into the economic ramifications of a four-day work week, but in light of the discussion about work-life balance, I want to insert a few truths into the debate.
God Designed Us for Work
Believe it or not, work was part of God’s original design for us. One of the first things God did after creating Adam was give him a job - to care for the Garden of Eden and name all the creatures within it. Furthermore, work will actually be part of God’s New Heaven and New Earth. Revelation 22:3 says that Christians will serve the Lord in God’s Kingdom. In other words, we will have work to do! God designed us to find fulfillment and purpose from work.
Americans Idolize Work
Anything, even a good thing, can become an idol. American culture can lead many to put work in a place of higher significance than God. Our purpose on this Earth is not to work or gain success and accolades, despite work being part of God’s design. God has given us our jobs, and part of our responsibility is to be His instrument to lead as many souls to the Lord as possible before we go to be with Him. In many cases, God uses our work relationships to help us accomplish this, but work should never take the place of God in our minds and hearts.
Humans Need Rest
God designed humans to need rest. He set an example for us when He rested on the seventh day after speaking the entire universe into existence. (I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had that productive of a work week!) He even made rest part of His law in The 10 Commandments. Many of us have completely forgotten how to rest. Most full-time employees report working an average of 47 hours a week. Forget a four-day week, most Americans are working more like a six-day work week! Rest needs to become part of our weekly plan, whether we’re working four or five days per week.
Laws Don’t Matter If You Don’t Set Boundaries
Even if a four-day work week was enacted, many Americans would still be working tons of hours because they’ve never set boundaries, and many employers want to get as much as they can out of their workers. Workers are generally expected to be available 24/7 and answer emails no matter what time they come in. Rather than talking about legislating the length of a work week, we need to take a look at our own work- culture and start setting boundaries for ourselves. Leaders, this starts with you. On Fridays, I turned on an out-of-office assistant on my email to let employees know I wouldn’t be responding to emails over the weekend, and didn’t expect them to either (I also gave them my phone number to call me in the event of an emergency). Find ways to help your employees establish boundaries, and let you know you value their family time.
America’s work ethic has made it a prosperous nation and improved the quality of life for millions. Additionally, work is a good thing, designed by God to bring fulfillment to our lives. As debates about work week length and other labor reforms wage on, we should remember that work cannot be foremost in our lives. Neither should we allow ourselves to become so exhausted and burned out that we cannot fulfill our ultimate purpose - to be God’s instrument to lead as many people as we can to Jesus. If you really care about your family, friends, and colleagues, don’t you want them with you in heaven? How much do you really care about them?? We all have work to do!