Could a four-day working week work? 每周四天工作日，可行嗎?

盡管英國人每周工作的時間很長，但他們的工作效率卻低于許多其它歐洲國家。有一種方法或許可以解決這個問題 —— 那就是縮短工作時間。一周工作四天意味著大家可以有額外的一個休息日，但仍拿五天的工資。目前，英國已經(jīng)有公司開始實行一周四天工作日的制度。不過，對于這個制度是否可行，人們意見不一。你認為 “每周四天工作日” 的制度可行嗎?本集 “隨身英語” 討論縮短工作周的利弊。

Vocabulary: work 詞匯: 工作

People in the UK work longer hours than anyone else in the European Union but are far from the most productive. According to the Trades Union Congress, a UK body that brings together 49 member unions to improve their working conditions, employees in Denmark are 24% more productive per hour but work four hours fewer per week. 'Britain's long-hours culture… is robbing workers of a decent home life and time with their loved ones.Overwork, stress and exhaustion have become the new normal,' says TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady. They want businesses to cut the standard working week from five days to four. But would a four-day week work?

It does for Rich Leigh, founder of a Gloucester-based PR business. Staff there work Monday to Thursday, 9am – 5:30pm, but still get paid the same as before. In an interview with the BBC, Leigh claims it makes the staff happier, which leads to better, more productive work. After a year, earnings and profits are up and sick days have halved.

The 4 Day Week Campaign also believes a shorter week would benefit everyone. They claim that it would, among other things, more evenly distribute work between the overworked and the underemployed. They estimate that around 30 UK businesses operate a 'four day, same pay' system.

However, not everyone is convinced. One of the UK's leading charities, the Wellcome Trust, conducted an organisation-wide consultation into whether a four-day week would fit. They decided against it. 'Many employees worried about their five-day workloads being compressed into just four days and some raised concerns that the time and energy used to implement a four-day week would distract the charity from its core work,' says Ed Whiting, director of policy at the Trust.

So does a four-day working week work or not? Clearly it suits some… but not everyone. "We've got a lot to do before it can work for different sectors," says Emelia Quist from the Federation of Small Businesses in a BBC interview. 'Social care needs people present 24/7. How can we ensure those industries can work a four-day week?' she adds. Until we can answer questions like these, there's clearly more work to be done.

詞匯表

productive 高效的

trade union 工會

working conditions 工作環(huán)境，勞動條件

long-hours culture 加班文化，超時工作環(huán)境

overwork 工作過度，勞累過度

standard working week 標準工作周

founder 創(chuàng)始人

staff 員工，全體雇員

earnings 工資，薪水

profit 利潤

sick days 帶薪病假

underemployed 只有部分時間被雇用工作的人

operate 實行

organisation 企業(yè)

workload 工作量

core work 核心工作

sector 行業(yè)，領(lǐng)域

24/7 每時每刻地，一直不休息地

industry 行業(yè)，產(chǎn)業(yè)