Taiwan nixes 4-day workweek petition

台灣駁回每週工作四天的請願書

DGPA says majority of those surveyed rejected 4-day workweek


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's government on Monday (June 26) rejected a petition calling on the country to adopt a four-day workweek.

On March 7, a petition was posted on the National Development Council’s Public Policy Online Participation Platform calling on the government to, "Make Taiwan the first country in Asia to have a three-day weekend." The petition said although Taiwan's average annual working hours per person dropped to 2,000 hours, the lowest in history, the country still ranks fourth worldwide in this category.

The petition gained 5,736 signatures, surpassing the minimum 5,000 mark needed for a government response by June 26.

On June 26, the Cabinet's Directorate-General of Personnel Administration (DGPA) responded to the petition. It said after consulting relevant agencies and groups and collecting opinions from all walks of life, most did not agree with the proposal, and therefore it will not be adopted.

The DGPA said a four-day workweek would impact people's daily lives, business operations, transportation scheduling, financial foreign exchange settlements, stock market transactions, and students' right to education, and would have a wide-ranging impact. It said there were only a few examples of public or private sector companies in other countries implementing the scheme.

Belgium legislated a four-day workweek in 2022, albeit with the same number of weekly working hours as a five-day schedule. Trials of four-day workweeks have been conducted by the governments of Iceland, Sweden, Scotland, Wales, and Spain, while certain companies in Germany, Japan, and New Zealand have also begun experimenting with the shortened workweek.

According to the administration, there is still a lack of statistical data on the impact of a four-day workweek on the administrative efficiency of government agencies, the health of personnel, and business development.

The DGPA said since government agencies are responsible for carrying out public tasks and must maintain the quality of service to the people, it is not appropriate to rush into implementing a change before conditions and supporting measures for public administration, industry, and education are complete. The agency said it will continue to monitor developments in other countries going forward.