Over the next two years, Stavanger Municipality will spend NOK 5 million to test whether reduced working hours can reduce sickness absence. Gullfaks kindergarten is the test arena. – I have a cabin. Now I get every Monday off for two years, so for me this is absolutely great. Think, every weekend becomes a long weekend, says a smiling Morten Gundersen, educational manager at Gullfaks kindergarten in Stavanger. The salary is the same. They get paid for five days, but only have to work four. – When I talk to people, they say that they almost don’t think this is possible. “How incredibly lucky you are,” we hear. And we are. I think this will give us more energy, we will have a day to catch up, says Grete Røed. Greta Røed and Anne Lise Vik have a combined 44 years as assistants in Gullfaks kindergarten. Now they toast to a four-day week for the next two years. Photo: Johan Mihle Laugaland / news Wants employees to stay at work longer It is the majority parties in Stavanger (Ap, SV, Sp, MDG and Folkets Parti) that want to test reduced working hours. An Oslo kindergarten is already testing a six-hour working day, which in terms of hours corresponds to a four-day week. Mayoral candidate Eirik Faret Sakariassen (SV) believes that reduced working hours will reduce sickness absence. Photo: Johan Mihle Laugaland / news – This is a big day for Stavanger. This is an exciting project that will be researched. We want to find out what it will mean to reduce working hours, for example in kindergartens, says Eirik Faret Sakariassen, mayoral candidate for SV. – This is physically demanding work, and we want the employees to be able to stay at work for a long time and for the children to have a good time. Then we need employees who have energy, he says. Røed has been an assistant in Gullfaks kindergarten for 14 years. Anne Lise Vik has worked in the nursery for 30 years. Both believe that sickness absence in kindergarten, which is up to 15 per cent, will decrease. – I think this will mean a lot, says Anne Lise Vik. The Norwegian Education Confederation: No more six-hour day The trade union movement and not least SV have a six-hour day as a cause of action. Six-hour days have been tried before, including at Tine’s in Heimdal in Trøndelag. Here, however, it ended in 2019. For SV, it was most important that the trial project was started, and that the scheme was put in place after discussions with the staff at the nursery school. – This is a research programme, where in Stavanger we look at the effect of a four-day week, while in Oslo municipality we look at a six-hour day. Then we gain interesting knowledge about both solutions, says Sakariassen. Stavanger has landed on a four-day week because they believe this is the best for the children. – The professional in me thought about the little ones and how important continuity is. As long as parents have full working days and that’s fine, and the children have long days in the nursery, we thought it was better to have the permanent staff on regular shifts, says Eli Mundheim, business manager in Stavanger municipality. The Education Association does not agree that a four-day week is the best for the children and said no when the municipality presented the scheme. The union representatives would rather try the six-hour day. – When you choose to have four days, it is not the same people who are at work every day. When there is a start for children, they must have a primary contact. But now the primary contact will be gone one day a week. We are afraid that it will weaken the quality, says leader of the Education Association in Stavanger, Truls Hagland. May be stopped this autumn There are many indications of a political shift after the election. The Conservative Party has stormed ahead in the opinion polls, and the party’s mayoral candidate Sissel Knutsen Hegdal is likely to take over. Mayoral candidate Sissel Knutsen Hegdal (H) cannot promise that the trial scheme with reduced working hours will continue if she takes over after the election. Photo: Tom Edvindsen / news She will not promise that the scheme will last. – We have to prioritize. We cannot afford all the welfare benefits that we want. I cannot promise that this arrangement will continue after the election this autumn. This is when the budget negotiations take place. So we have to come back to this, says Knutsen Hegdal. Knutsen Hegdal is more in line with the Norwegian Education Association and would rather strengthen staffing than spend money on reducing working hours.
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Four-day week for kindergarten employees to reduce sickness absence – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
