SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Public and private companies in the Dominican Republic are in favor of a six-month voluntary pilot program to create a four-day workweek, the first initiative of its kind in the Caribbean country.
The initiative announced Monday will launch in February, with employees earning the same salary, according to the Dominican government. The move would reduce the standard workweek from the required 44 hours to 36 hours, with employees working Monday through Thursday only.
“It puts others first, physical fitness and well-being, and promotes sustainable and environmentally friendly productivity,” said Labor Minister Luis Miguel de Camps.
The companies expected to participate are Claro, the Latin American telecommunications giant; the electric power company EGE Haina; IMCA, a heavy equipment company and the government’s national fitness insurance agency.
A local university is guilty of analyzing the results, adding possible changes in the painters’ physical condition and the relationship between work and their personal lives.
Currently companies in the Dominican Republic usually allocate 8 hours of work per week and some others 4 on Saturdays, they are free to distribute the hours as they see fit, as long as they are not more than 44 hours per week.
The Dominican Republic is following in the footsteps of Britain, which introduced what is considered the world’s largest trial of a four-day work week and achieved positive effects last year.
A growing number of U. S. corporations have also reduced the workweek, while in Chile, lawmakers last year passed a bill to increase the workweek from 45 to 40 hours.