The Dominican Republic is the first Caribbean country to introduce a four-day workweek! Should Jamaica be next?

So, four-day workweeks have been a hot topic for a few years. The concept really took off towards the end of the pandemic, when businesses started to feel the effects of the Great Resignation. 

One of the biggest factors in the Great Resignation is burnout. People are just tired of overworking, especially for companies that they feel don’t have their best interests at heart. 

Enter the four-day workweek movement. It would cut the traditional five-day or 40-hour workweek down to four days to improve employee well being and overall productivity. 

The Dominican Republic is the latest country to test the theory. 

Right now, DR employees typically work a minimum of 44 hours a week, which is already higher than the traditional 40 hours in most countries. They are required to do eight hours a day during the week and another four on Saturdays. 

But, come February the Government will be launching a voluntary four day workweek pilot programme that’ll cut the weekwork to 36 hours.

That means workers would only be required to work from Monday to Thursday. And the most important thing… their pay will stay the same. 

Now the fact that the programme is voluntary means companies would have to sign up to be a part of the programme. 

But so far, companies from both DR’s public and private sectors have signed up for the experiment. Companies like telecoms giant Claro, power company EGE Haina and the Government’s National Health Insurance agency are already on board.

DR’s Labour Minister said the programme is aimed at improving the health and well-being of employees while creating a sustainable work environment. 

A local university in the DR will be analysing the results, including any health changes in workers and the relationship between work and their personal lives.

Britain launched a similar four-day workweek trial last year, on a much larger scale, and they’ve found positive results. A couple of companies in the US have also switched to a shorter workweek and got good results as well.

So, this is a really big deal for the DR and the Caribbean. I’m sure other regional governments and companies will be watching the results to see if it’s something that they also want to test – hint, hint, Jamaica.

And that’s the bottom line.