瑞典爲減少病假試行6小時工作制

據英國《每日郵報》報道，瑞典爲了減少病假、提高效率，同時也讓員工的身心更健康，正在試行6小時工作制。

數百名瑞典員工目前已經開始享受這一新工作制，他們每天只需工作6個小時，而且薪水不變。當前瑞典普遍實行的是7小時工作制。

接下來接受試驗的這部分員工將和其他部門的員工做比較，看縮短工作時間能否改善他們的工作效率和身心健康。

不過，反對黨派表示，這不過是在大選前收買人心，並指出過去也曾試行過6小時工作制，最後因發現並未使員工健康好轉或招來其他部門員工的怨恨而無果而終。

Hundreds of Swedish workers are trialling a six-hour working day in the hopes that it will cut sick leave and save the country money.

In an experiment, workers in one government department in Gothenburg are to be put on to six-hour days on full pay, while workers in another department will work a standard seven-hour day.

Mats Pilhem, Left Party deputy mayor of Gothenburg, hopes the six-hour staff will take fewer sick days, and have better physical and mental health as a result.

Speaking to The Local, he said: 'We think it's time to give this a real shot in Sweden.

'We'll compare the two afterwards and see how they differ. We hope to get the staff members taking fewer sick days and feeling better mentally and physically after they've worked shorter days.'

He claimed that a car manufacturer in the city had trialled the six-hour day with promising results.

He added that in other sectors, such as social care, the problem was not a lack of employees but people working inefficiently over the course of a long shift.

However, opposition politicians blasted the move as a cheap trick to win favour ahead of elections, and said the policy had be trialled before with no success.

For 16 years around 250 staff at Kiruna council worked a six-hour shift, but the policy was abandoned in 2005 after a report found that it had no impact on health.

Another trial in on staff in one hospital department in Stockholm had to be abandoned after workers in other departments became resentful, and a third on childcare workers was scrapped because it drove up costs.

However, Pilhem dismissed the criticisms, saying: 'We've worked a long time on this, we've not planned it to be an election thing. These people are always against shortening hours.'