A friend from Nyamiyaga was telling me a story of interest at their workplace.
He found a colleague staring blankly at their laptop on a Friday evening. He had gone to tell them that, “the other man at Kyadondo has begun.”
He thinks their soul was wondering if they might be on leave but had not notified their supervisor and HR. Perhaps the Enterprise Resource Planning Tool had gone mad. Sometimes leave is also a privilege. We agreed these things never happen in our small Nyamiyaga.
But, if this situation is happening to you, come on, you are a modern worker trapped in the barricades of capitalism; money and profit rule. You’ve been made to believe this is how you will make it. In Uganda, the standard workweek is officially capped at 40 hours, typically spread over five days.
Some institutions go up to 48 to cover Saturday. Leaving one designated rest day, where also the man at the pulpit is reminding you. Keep holy the Sabbath day. Recent data even suggests that Ugandans are clocking in even more hours, averaging 50.3 hours per week.
Leave alone what is lost in traffic and preparation to be at work/office. Over time, special projects, etc. All packaged well to keep you wheeling capitalism. It is a reflection of a society where work-life balance is more an aspiration than reality.
The persistence of the five-day (or six-day) workweek is less about necessity and more about the inertia of capitalist structures. The model, born out of industrial capitalism, was designed to maximise productivity, often at the expense of workers’ well-being.
In Uganda, this manifests in extended hours with minimal rest, leaving little room for personal development or family time. By the way who are you working for? Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum, emphasised the rights and dignities of workers, advocating for reasonable working hours and rest.
It warned against reducing humans to mere instruments of labour. Yet, over a century later, the encyclical’s wisdom seems overlooked, as workers continue to be valued more for their output than their humanity.
In all this your boss’s WhatsApp pings are airborne 24/7 and you belong to the same WhatsApp Group. Thank God we’ve Pope Leo XIV, as he emerged at the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, he’s recalled to our times these pressing issues; social justice, the dignity of the human person, peace, and technology.
The world cannot be at peace when the heart is restless on the coals of capitalism and work. What are these extra hours of work yielding? We are stuck in traffic jam for four hours every day so as to be at a work environment to chase approvals, meetings, meals, co-worker discussions, corporate responsibilities, emails, targets, and exhaustion.
The day is done. Go home. Come back tomorrow. And then my favourite one; ebisigadde bya Monday very early in the morning. And your boss randomly buys you pizza and we call that team building. Advancements in technology promised to free us from the shackles of overwork. No. We are at work 24/7.
Far away from our families. Far away from Nyamiyaga. Far away from Ngetta and Pakele. Automation and digital tools were supposed to reduce labour hours. Now with technology, work can follow you everywhere, blurring the lines between professional and personal life.
The capitalist system tricks you into being called an “asset or resource”, but you don’t have a value in the balance sheet, you are a cost in the profit and loss account. You are either producing value or being coached how to produce value.
It is called capacity building for the needed knowledge and skills. Extended workweeks have tangible repercussions. Chronic fatigue and strained family relationships are common among overworked individuals.
The societal fabric breaks when individuals have little time for community engagement, rest, or leisure. You still wonder why mental health crisis is now real but quietly spoken about? No one has time for you. It’s time to question the sanctity of the traditional workweek.
Could a four-day workweek enhance productivity and well-being? Some countries and organisations experimenting with shorter workweeks indicate increased employee satisfaction and maintained or even improved productivity levels.
A more flexible work model could lead to a healthier, more balanced society. It could also reduce traffic and pressure on our bad traffic and housing. When employees check in at work, they are a cost centre as well. The five-day workweek is not sacred.
Policy makers. It is not. Once a symbol of progress, now is a constraint. It serves the spreadsheet gods of neo capitalism, and very far away beyond our borders.
Let us reassess our approach to labour; embracing flexibility, valuing rest, and recognising that holistic needs of workers aren’t just humane. It brings out our natural dignity.
We are talking about smart economics and public policy, something that truly matters and a model that truly serves people and their dignity.
The author is a concerned citizen.