LONDON - With French President Emmanuel Macron confronting mass street demonstrations and stiff parliamentary resistance to his controversial proposal raising the country’s retirement age, this may not be the most appropriate time to launch yet another labour reform initiative.

But unlike the pensions shake-up, the latest project unveiled by the French government may be popular. For it consists of testing the feasibility of reducing France’s working week to just four days, with employees free to take the additional day of rest at any time of the week.