Happy Friday!

Celebration Time as Sweden Moves to Reduce the Working Day to 6 Hours

Sweden is already pretty awesome.  The Scandinavian nation boasts one of the most equal, peaceful, and prosperous societies in the world.  But it’s about to get even better: Sweden’s second biggest city is launching a year-long trial limiting a person’s lawful maximum working hours each day to just six – and keeping their wages intact. . . .

Belgium and the Netherlands have already implemented the 30 hour working week by law – and both economies are healthy, dynamic and both nations rank highly in the OECD’s Quality of Life index. Germany, the powerhouse economy of Europe, maintains a 35 hour working week. Denmark has implemented a 33 hour working week and France has also joined the pack of countries with the lowest working hours in the world.  These are some of the strongest and most stable economies and societies in the world. . . . 

What do they have in common? Socialist or Social Democrat governments. If you want a society that works for the majority, you can’t continue to elect politicians who only care if it works for the 1%.

Mon Dieu! No More Work Email at Home for Some French Workers

French workers already enjoy a 35-hour workweek and at least five weeks of vacation. Now, many of them won't have to check their work email after 6 p.m.

That's because of an agreement by unions and the consulting and tech industries. Under the deal, about 1 million workers will be required to switch off their work phones outside office hours — 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. that some emailing outside those hours will be allowed, but only in exceptional circumstances. . . .

All those hours and days off don't seem to affect the productivity of French workers: that, contrary to public perception, French workers are more productive than German ones and only marginally less productive than their American counterparts. . . . 

Overworked America: 12 Charts That Will Make Your Blood Boil

Why "efficiency" and "productivity" really mean more profits for corporations and less sanity for you. . . .

For Americans as a whole, the length of a typical workweek hasn't changed much in years. But for many middle-class workers, job obligations are creeping into free time and family time. For low-income workers, hours have declined due to a shrinking job market, causing underemployment. . . .

Digital overtime - A survey of employed email users finds:
22% are expected to respond to work email when they're not at work.
50% check work email on the weekends.
46% check work email on sick days.
34% check work email while on vacation. . . .

The US is part of a very small club of nations that don't require...