Sweden is moving to a six-hour working day in a bid to increase productivity and make people happier. Employers across the country have already made the change, according to the Science Alert website, which said the aim was to get more done in a shorter amount of time and ensure people had the energy to enjoy their private lives.
Read more » INDEPENDENT
A trial of shorter days for nurses at a Gothenburg care home is inspiring others across Scandinavia to cut back, but the cost of improving staff wellbeing is high
By David Crouch in Gothenburg
A Swedish retirement home may seem an unlikely setting for an experiment about the future of work, but a small group of elderly-care nurses in Sweden have made radical changes to their daily lives in an effort to improve quality and efficiency.
In February the nurses switched from an eight-hour to a six-hour working day for the same wage – the first controlled trial of shorter hours since a rightward political shift in Sweden a decade ago snuffed out earlier efforts to explore alternatives to the traditional working week.
“I used to be exhausted all the time, I would come home from work and pass out on the sofa,” says Lise-Lotte Pettersson, 41, an assistant nurse at Svartedalens care home in Gothenburg. “But not now. I am much more alert: I have much more energy for my work, and also for family life.”
The Svartedalens experiment is inspiring others around Sweden: at Gothenburg’s Sahlgrenska University hospital, orthopaedic surgery has moved to a six-hour day, as have doctors and nurses in two hospital departments in Umeå to the north. And the trend is not confined to the public sector: small businesses claim that a shorter day can increase productivity while reducing staff turnover.
At Svartedalens, the trial is viewed as a success, even if, with an extra 14 members of staff hired to cope with the shorter hours and new shift patterns, it is costing the council money. Ann-Charlotte Dahlbom Larsson, head of elderly care at the home, says staff wellbeing is better and the standard of care is even higher.
“Since the 1990s we have had more work and fewer people – we can’t do it any more,” she says. “There is a lot of illness and depression among staff in the care sector because of exhaustion – the lack of balance between work and life is not good for anyone.”
Pettersson, one of 82 nurses at Svartedalens, agrees. Caring for elderly people, some of whom have dementia, demands constant vigilance and creativity, and with a six-hour day she can sustain a higher standard of care. “You cannot allow elderly people to become stressed, otherwise it turns into a bad day for everyone,” she says.
After a century in which working hours were gradually reduced, holidays increased and retirement reached earlier, there has been an increase in hours worked for the first time in history, says Roland Paulsen, a researcher in business administration at the University of Lund. People are working harder and longer, he says – but this is not necessarily for the best.
“For a long time politicians have been competing to say we must create more jobs with longer hours – work has become an end in itself,” he says. “But productivity has doubled since the 1970s, so technically we even have the potential for a four-hour working day. It is a question of how these productivity gains are distributed. It did not used to be utopian to cut working hours – we have done this before.”
Continue reading Efficiency up, turnover down: Sweden experiments with six-hour working day
Sweden introduces a SIX-HOUR working day in bid to reduce sick leave, boost efficiency and make staff happier
Government staff in Swedish city of Gothenburg to take part in trial; One department will work six hour days, while another will work seven; Two will be compared to see if shorter days improve efficiency
Hundreds of Swedish workers are trialling a six-hour working day in the hopes that it will cut sick leave and save the country money. In an experiment, workers in one government department in Gothenburg are to be put on to six-hour days on full pay
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2600416/Sweden-introduces-six-hour-working-day-pay-bid-reduce-sick-leave-boost-efficiency-make-staff-happier.html#ixzz2yRAOT8gR
Access to justice is discriminating against poor and immigrant populations, says a new report by the World Justice Project.
By: Jeff Green, Staff Reporter
A new report from suggests immigrant and poor populations are being discriminated against in Canada because of a limited access to justice. Canada dropped since last year in six of the eight “Rule of Law” factors listed in the report from the World Justice Project.
The report ranked Canada among 97 countries worldwide in categories including government power, corruption, order, fundamental rights, open government, enforcement, and civil and criminal justice.
Some 97,000 people were polled worldwide, in addition to 2,500 experts in 97 countries to compile the report.
Conference Board report card gives Canada a B, ranked 7th out of 17 developed countries
Canada isn’t living up to its potential or its reputation when it comes to societal issues like poverty, government and inequality, according to the Conference Board of Canada.
The group gave Canada a ‘B’, good for a 7th place ranking out of 17 developed countries, but it said the “middle-of-the-pack” ranking leaves room for improvement.
Getting an ‘A’ at the top of the rankings were the Scandinavian nations (Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland) as well as the Netherlands and Austria. …
Read more » CBC
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/02/01/business-canada-society-report-card.html
Julian Assange has urged the US to end its “witch-hunt” against Wikileaks, in his first public statement since entering Ecuador’s London embassy.
He also called for the release of Bradley Manning, who is awaiting trial in the US accused of leaking classified documents to the Wikileaks site.
Mr Assange spoke from a balcony at the embassy and thanked Ecuador’s president, who has granted him asylum.
He faces extradition to Sweden over sexual assault claims, which he denies.
The 41-year-old said the United States must also stop its “war on whistleblowers”. ….
Read more » BBC
The Québec Student Strike – Why we support it and why we condemn Bill 78
The Committee of Progressive Pakistani Canadians (CPPC) believes the right to an education is one all citizens of the world must have access to. Moreover, that access should be without financial cost. Only by having an educated population can a country truly be free.
The Moslems aren’t happy!
They’re not happy in Gaza.
They’re not happy in Egypt.
They’re not happy in Libya.
They’re not happy in Morocco.
They’re not happy in Iran.
They’re not happy in Iraq.
They’re not happy in Yemen.
They’re not happy in Afghanistan.
They’re not happy in Pakistan.
They’re not happy in Syria.
They’re not happy in Lebanon.
And where are they happy?
They’re happy in England.
They’re happy in France.
They’re happy in Italy.
They’re happy in Germany.
They’re happy in Sweden.
They’re happy in the USA.
They’re happy in Canada.
They’re happy in Norway.
They’re happy in every country that is not Moslem!
And who do they blame?
Not their leadership. Not themselves.
THEY BLAME THE COUNTRIES THEY ARE HAPPY IN !!!
Courtesy: Pakistani e-lists/ e-groups + social media
Wonderful Baluchi-Sistani-Irani-Sweden music and dance. He is singing in Persian in Sistani-Farsi accent of south-eastern Iran. Rostam Mirlashari is Baloch from Iran and the original homeland of Balochis is in Sistan Balochistan, Kerman, Iranshahr, Bam and Hormuzgan of IRAN ZAMIN! Golbang & Raks el Hawanem live performance at Södra teatern, Stockholm, Sweden 2003.
» You Tube
Seven killed in worst-ever attack on UN workers in Afghanistan
Seven United Nations workers have been executed in the northern Afghanistan city of Mazar-e-Sharif, two of them by beheading, by demonstrators protesting the burning of a Koran at a church in Florida.
By Dean Nelson, New Delhi and Farhad Peikar in Kabul
The victims of the worst-ever attack on UN personnel in Afghanistan included five guards from Nepal, and civilian staff from Norway, Sweden and Romania. Four local residents were also killed.
UN officials told The Daily Telegraph the final toll could rise as high as 20, and there were unconfirmed reports that the head of the United Nations Military Assistance Mission (Unama) in Mazar-e-Sharif had also been seriously injured …
Read more : The Telegraph.co.uk
Defend Wikileaks and Julian Assange! Australia should break the military alliance with US!
December 7, 2010 — “The Australian government should defend and support Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange and their efforts to expose the lies, duplicities and outright crimes of the US government and its allies”, said Peter Boyle, national convener of the Socialist Alliance on December 7. …
Read more : Links International Journal
* Areas of interest include solar and wind energy, technical education, tourism, industries, agriculture, public-private partnership, livestock and fisheries
KARACHI: Swedish government is exploring the potential of investment in various areas of Sindh intends to put in $300 million.
The head of Swedish trade delegation and Minister of Trade Ewa Bjorling said that her delegation’s visit to Pakistan is to explore the possibilities of investment as Sweden government intends to invest $300 million in Pakistan. …
Read more : Daily Times
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