Cassia to launch four-day work week to boost work-life balance

Auckland-based Indian restaurant Cassia is making several changes to its operations starting August 15 in a bid to give their employees better work-life balance. In an announcement, the restaurant said it will be hiring more employees, extending operations, and launch a four-day work week for staff.

"We all need to look inwards and see what we can do," said Sid Sahrawat, co-owner of the Fort Lane establishment, in a statement. "The last couple of years we have learned we have to work with what we've got, and we have long recognised we need to make the industry more attractive in order to attract and retain staff."

Currently, Cassia is only open from Tuesday to Saturday for dinner and Thursday and Friday for lunch. Sunday and Monday serve as rest days for employees. But the new changes will open the restaurant seven days a week for dinner, and Wednesday to Sunday for lunch.

To accommodate this change, Cassia announced they are expanding their team from 20 to 35 to meet the extra days of operations. This will allow their kitchen teams to work four days a week, without seeing a reduction to their salary, and will also enable staff to swap shifts when they need to attend family-related events.

According to the owners, Sid and Chand Sahrawat, this is vital to attracting and retaining staff in the long-term.

The front house teams, on the other hand, will be able to work extra shifts if they want to, as they are paid on an hourly basis.

Read more: What are the 'real-time benefits' of a four-day work week?

"We used to close two days to give everyone the same days off, but we know work-life balance is important to our staff and we want to make this happen for them with a four-day working week, for those who want it," said Chand.

The expanded seven-day operation is also a response to the customer demand for the restaurant to open on Sundays and Mondays.

Marisa Bidois, chief executive officer of Restaurant NZ, lauded Cassia's operation changes, particularly its four-day work week concept.

"The four-day week is a concept that is being trialled in workplaces globally as a way of increasing employee satisfaction, reducing stress levels and increasing productivity," said Bidois in a statement.

"With the current worker shortage, many businesses have had to reduce opening hours to ensure staff are well-rested."

According to Bidois, the initiatives that will be implemented by Cassia are great ways for businesses to think outside the box when it comes to attracting and retaining employees.

Four-day work weeks are starting to gain traction across the world, with many believing it will improve work-life balance and productivity in the workplace.

In the UK, over 70 organisations are trialling a four-day work week under a global campaign, with Australia and New Zealand going next starting August.