What Can The Danes Teach Us About Happiness?

[Preening Fop]

"Denmark is very consumer-oriented and family-oriented. People are sure to leave work at 4:30pm. They work their eight hours and go home. Pressure to work overtime doesn't exist".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6563639.stm

The Danish Coffee Shops may also be a positive ingredient
for a continuing contented society....!
http://www.coffeeshop.freeuk.com/ACDfrmGu.html?ACDpage=General/GenCS.html

[Crazy Dave]

1. Very true

Most American employers reward their hard working employees with more work instead of better pay and tell everyone that if they want to make more money then work longer hours. I can't count the number of times I'd have all my work for the day finished and it would be right before eight hours when a supervisor or the owner would say, "go ahead and start this other job and work on it for another two hours", "you didn't have plans for the evening did you?"
My answer was always, "no I don't have any plans, none of your business if I do or don't and I'm finished for the day." Then when they got all pissy about it I'd say, "Well, I guess I won't waste my fucking time coming in tomorrow morning!"

[Cassandra]

3. When each new employee comes with a benefits package...

of some sort, instead of universal health care covering that, then each extra employee costs more than making a curent employee work overtime. It was one thing when extra overtime was beneficial to the worker's bottom line but when it only really benefits the executives' profits, then why bother.

[soothsayer]

2. Hamlet was depressed. Also, NO WAY do they work 8 hours!

Working for a global company, those European branches were the WORST to deal with as not only do they have gazillions of holidays but also tons and tons of leave, and if you could get someone to come into work for 6 hours a day and 5 days a week it was a miracle. And they couldn't sustain that pace... Jealous? Heck yeah!

[Crazy Dave]

4. But....

I did read an article in Foreign Policy Magazine one time that in the actual hours that they do work they are more productive than their American counterparts. The survey showed they average more production in six hours than we do in eight. I can't remember all the industries they studied but it all came down to European workers getting more done in less time as they're more rested when they come to work, they're under less stress from working excessive hours, they're daycare is free or partially subsidized, they have a healthier population/workforce due to universal healthcare, plus less stress from having to worry about themselves or their kids getting sick and not being able to afford to go to the doctor or take time off from work. Plus most European's have a better education system which makes smarter workers as their governments invest in education and their people versus wars and a bloated defense budget.