Namibia will be experimenting with a six-month trial period exploring a four-day work week as of the 1st of next month. 

The nbc's The Wheels of Justice show unpacked the concept of a four-day workweek and the legal reforms that would be required to implement it in terms of employer-employee relationships. 

Conversations around the four-day workweek were first sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic, with workers and employers rethinking the importance of workplace flexibility and the benefits thereof, led by the UK.

Namibia was also assessed, and it was found that it has a sound labour environment in place as well as dynamic labour legislation and regulations. 

Hence, Namibia is set to become only the second country in Africa to trial the concept of a four-day workweek.

The founder of Pulse HR Network, Jonas Ileka, says the initiative is supported by both employers and employees, with supporters of the idea arguing that the deviation from the age-old concept of a five-day workweek enhances employee wellbeing while also increasing productivity.

Ileka also explained the practical difference between the envisioned four-day workweek and the current five-day setup.

"The four-day week is a very simple conception but a different reality to implement, but how I can explain it is that it's a business improvement strategy that can benefit both the employer and employee. How it works is that you choose any day in the five days that an employee can be off so that they can only work four days and have three days of rest. As opposed to the two, the module is called 100-80-100. What it means is that you get 100% of your salary, do your work in 80% of the time, and are expected to produce 100% in a short amount of time." 

Employment Law Expert, Marvin Awarab, suggests there are no laws that could hinder employers from implementing the four-day work week.

"There is nothing currently that stops employers from implementing the four-day work week; in fact, if you look at the constitutional provisions, they talk about the strength and wellbeing of the employees. Now if the four-day week can promote the strength of the employees, why not explore it? Looking at the objectives, I believe they have a basis in our law. Looking at the NDPs and where the country is headed, as far as human capital is concerned, I believe there is a basis in law."

On the other hand, sceptics question the wisdom of the proposed change and highlight potential implications for employment conditions like remuneration and leave days. 

"Remember that employees are employed for a period of time based on their contracts, and when the employees signed that agreement, the agreement was that they would be paid a certain amount of remuneration. During the pilot period and afterwards, the employer cannot temper the income; it remains intact. As far as the leave days are concerned during the pilot, we cannot temper with the employee's days. What can happen is that if you work for a certain number of days, you are entitled to annual leave, so the employer can decide to negotiate with the employer to say that during the pilot period, we will only be working for a shorter amount of days for a week, but let's also adjust your leave days for the period."

For now, the four-day workweek will be conducted on a trial basis and will not be government-sanctioned.

Hence, it will not be implemented at the national level but voluntarily.