French city of Lyon tests out four-day work week for public employees

Thousands of public employees in Lyon now have the option to work four days a week instead of five, without taking a pay cut. The south-eastern city, one of France's biggest, is experimenting with a shorter work week in the hope of reducing absenteeism and narrowing the gender gap.

Since the start of September, employees of Lyon Metropole, the local authority responsible for running the city and its main suburbs,