BEFORE the Covid-19 pandemic, many were shocked at discussions around the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the digitisation of work and the creation of gig platforms, citing the changes to the labour environment as radical.
A few moments thereafter, the world was rapidly plunged into a new normal, first with the performance of fully remote work, and now, a hybrid model between in-person and remote functions.
In this new era, much debate has been sparked around the reduction of working hours and the implementation of a four-day working week.
The concept, however, is not novel.
At the 46th International Labour Convention on June 26, 1962, the International Labour Organization adopted the Reduction of Hours of Work Recommendation (No 116), which notably sought to indicate practical measures for the progressive reduction of hours…