Municipality mayor recommends compressed work setup for 'any municipality, any business'
The four-day workweek can be a great way to keep workers from leaving, and any municipality or business can reap its benefits – if they do it correctly, according to one Ontario municipality official.
Cross-training is the key, said Mayor Liz Danielsen, of Algonquin Highlands, in talking with HRD Canada.
“If you have a sufficient number of staff and sufficiently trained staff, I think that this is something that would work in any municipality – no matter how small or large – and in any business.”
Danielsen is pulling from her own experience implementing a four-day workweek at her municipality.
“It's worked well. I don't see any major pitfalls in it. We've been doing this for quite a number of months now, and I would recommend it as something that really does help with employee satisfaction… And I have seen no reduction in productivity.”
In January this year, leading town councillors at the Municipality of French River in northern Ontario decided to make the four-day workweek the permanent work setup at the municipality.
Implementing a compressed workweek
Under Algonquin Highlands’ compressed workweek setup, staff working in the office started logging 8.75 hours per day from 8:00 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. from either Monday to Thursday or Tuesday to Friday. Township office hours were also amended daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., equating to an additional five hours of service delivery per week.
Meanwhile, workers’ one-hour lunch break was cut down to 30 minutes, but they were given an additional 15 minutes at the end of each working day, “enabling staff to leave at 5:00 p.m. when the office closes”.
But the municipality did not implement the changes overnight. Instead, they held a six-month trial to make that possible.
“We basically looked as often as we could at cross-training… We had cross-training so that whenever somebody needed, [for example] something in planning, there'd be somebody who could look after them.”
And the trial was a success, said Danielsen.
“We were open to the public an additional four hours a week, so there was no reduction in service to the public at all.
“After the six-month trial, it seemed like things were working really well. We had put out a bit of a survey to the public, and to the staff. Of course, the staff enjoyed [the compressed workweek] very much… Everybody's happy to have a three-day weekend.”
Four in 10 companies plan to implement the four-day workweek scheme in the future, according to a previous report from Resume Builder.
The power to choose
Despite finding success in the compressed workweek, Algonquin Highlands did not require workers to be in the compressed workweek setup.
“Staff were given a choice. They didn't have to participate if they didn't want to. There are always some families that that doesn't work well for, whether… they have children at home or seniors living with them. It just doesn't always work for everyone.”
And that power to choose is important, said Danielsen.
“It's another part of the work-life balance; employees having a little bit more freedom to choose how they're going to work. We didn't want to enforce something that wasn't going to work for people. We didn't want to create issues that would cause difficulties at home, additional challenges for everyone.”
However, just two employees opted not to work the compressed week, said Danielsen. Despite that, they have the option to jump onboard the new setup if they choose to.
Nearly nine in 10 professionals (89%) across the world are keen for their employer to implement a four-day work week, according to a previous report.
Best practices for transition to compressed workweek
Despite the benefits that Algonquin Highlands’ workers got in the four-day workweek setup, this option could pose some risks to work culture, according to a previous report. Specifically, 66% of professionals would be willing to give up work socials and relationships with colleagues in favour of a shortened work week, according to a previous report.
But the best practices that Danielsen shared regarding implementing a compressed workweek may help employers.
“There needs to be a real process to ensure that the staff are on site, that – depending on whether it's a municipality or a business – their clients or their constituents are supportive of it,” she said.
“There does need to be a certain amount of cross-training, and I really believe that it's important that it be given a trial period to make sure that it does work.”