Experts say that both local government and the private sector can benefit from the change
Soon, Algonquin Highlands will become the latest rural Ontario small town to switch to a four-day work week.
Starting in March, the cottage country town will join Zorra, Aylmer, Springwater, and French River, which have all done the same thing in recent years to improve work-life balance and attract and keep staff.
Liz Danielsen, the mayor of Algonquin Highlands, says that it’s important to keep up with what employees want by giving them options like this and remote work.
Danielsen said, “Since COVID, people are looking for a different way to live.” Her town is about 220 kilometers west of Ottawa. It is home to about 2,500 people, but during the summer, the number of visitors increases.
“When we’re hiring, we want to be seen as a dynamic and forward-thinking company, and I think this will help a lot with that.”
The data that came out last week in the UK backs up what Danielsen says. Researchers found that most of the over 60 companies that took part in what is said to be the world’s largest four-day work week trial will keep the shorter work week for the same reasons.
After a seven-month trial period, about 95% of Algonquin Highlands’ employees chose to work longer days in exchange for a day off. Danielsen says that this was a morale booster and didn’t have much of an effect on services.
“I think you’ll see more and more of that as time goes on, especially if other people can see that it works well.”
What does it take
Before the pandemic, it was common for some city jobs to be done in four days, says David Arbuckle, the executive director of the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks, and Treasurers of Ontario, which is run by volunteers.
But since COVID-19, Arbuckle says conversations about making these arrangements more common have started to “creep” throughout northern and rural Ontario. This is because employee burnout and turnover are big problems in these areas, which are made worse by municipalities and the private sector competing for the same talent pool.
Arbuckle said, “We definitely want our members and our municipalities to move in that direction.”
Depending on the size of the community, four-day weeks can be hard. However, Arbuckle says that this model could work in other, larger municipalities and even outside of Ontario. Saint John and the District of Guysborough, N.S., have also already made the change.
Arbuckle says that the biggest challenge is making sure that all employees can take advantage of this arrangement. Four-day weeks are easier to implement for office workers than for those who work in the field. Other challenges include making sure that things like union contracts are taken into account and that cities can meet or exceed residents’ expectations for service.
So that this could happen, people in Zorra, a township about 30 kilometers northwest of London, Ontario, got an extra hour each day to use services. Alycia Wettlaufer, who is the town’s deputy clerk, says that the change is good for both employees and residents.
“Residents have been able to get all their questions answered and needs met just as well, if not better, than when we all worked five days,” said Wettlaufer.
She says that even though it was hard to get used to the longer days and work around everyone’s different schedules, things got better. She can’t imagine leaving for a job that doesn’t give her the same freedom, and she thinks that other cities and industries would benefit from looking into a change.
“People my age and younger are looking for more flexible work arrangements and things other than the typical 9-to-5,” said Wettlaufer, who is 28.
“I think it’s a great way to balance work and life, and I can’t imagine going back.”
Are other sectors interested
It is still unclear how many of Ontario’s 444 municipalities might make the change. But John Trougakos, a consultant and researcher with the Work Time Reduction Center of Excellence, says that the four-day work week is likely to grow as Canada continues to recover from the pandemic.
Trougakos, who is also a management professor at the University of Toronto, said, “Some organizations will still try to push people back into the office full-time or forget about a four-day work week or other ways to cut down on work time.”
“But in general, the companies that will be more effective and, I think, have more success are the ones that will find ways to use different principles related to these issues.”
Trougakos says that some people in the service industry, as well as the manufacturing and information industries, are already using this model.
Ten years ago, people thought a four-day week was “some crazy idea,” so this is a big change, he said. So what?
“We are finding out that it is actually possible.”