The new arrangements would be especially helpful for divorced or separated parents who share custody of their children, he added.
The reforms will allow people to work up to ten hours per day to complete their 38-hour working weeks, earning an additional day off to compensate for the longer days.
Similar schemes have been trialled across Europe with mixed success. Four-day working weeks were tested in Iceland between 2015 and 2019, with 85 per cent of its population continuing to do so.
Spain launched a similar trial last year, in the hope of cutting the working week to a mere 32 hours.
A six-month trial was launched in Scotland last month with a £10 million fund made available to companies participating in the four-day week. An adviser to the Welsh government yesterday called for a scheme to be trialled there.
Finland eventually shelved plans to introduce a four-day week and six-hour working day, despite it having government support.
But campaigners have recognised this as the first time a country has moved to enshrine the concept into law.
Firms with 20 or more employees will be expected to offer their staff the option to “disconnect” after working hours, meaning they no longer have to respond to calls or emails between 11pm and 5am.
Employers must also offer a reasoned response should they wish to change working hours from week to week. Staff already on variable contracts must be informed of their hours seven days ahead.
“The boundary between work and private life is becoming increasingly porous. These incessant demands can harm the physical and mental health of the worker,” Mr Dermagne said.
Delivery couriers, Uber drivers and other gig economy workers will also be granted more rights under a new approach to self-employment.
Mr De Croo said the changes were needed to encourage more people into work, with just 71.4 per cent of people aged 20 to 64 in a job.
The seven-party coalition has set its sights on ramping up the proportion in work to 80 per cent by 2030.
Four-day week campaigners, however, warned the Belgian model falls short of an actual shortened working week.
Joe Ryle, campaign director of the 4 Day Week, said: “We welcome more flexibility for workers to choose when they work but compressing a normal five day week into four-days is not the answer to tackling burnout, stress and overwork.
“It’s essential that the move to a four-day week involves a reduction in working hours, with no loss of pay for employees.
“To ensure the four-day week is implemented properly and the benefits are shared by all workers, trade unions must be at the heart of this transition.”
