The dream of a four-day workweek is very much alive in Ontario, where one municipality has gone all-in on the project and reaped the rewards.
The municipal staff in Zorra, Ontario, started a four-day workweek trial back in August 2020, and despite some COVID-19 disruptions it's been active for about seven months total. According to the town's Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Don MacLeod, it's something the town could keep for a while longer.
MacLeod told Narcity that the idea for working four days a week came from reviewing his staff's work-from-home procedures. He also heard about Guysborough, Nova Scotia, a town doing the same thing, and figured it might solve some problems down the line for Zorra.
"We knew we were having three or four senior management positions come up for retirement," MacLeod said. "It's getting harder to fill senior positions, so we needed to come up with some type of recruitment tool, and we felt the four day workweek would be an excellent recruitment tool for us."
So Zorra started a pilot for its municipal staff in August 2020, becoming a big news story in the process. Over a year later, how did the six-month trial go?
"The first four months were fairly routine," MacLeod said. "After January 1, like everybody else, we were at home for six months. So we restarted the pilot on July 1, set to expire at the end of October."
The trial will be extended to the end of 2021, MacLeod said, to give Zorra (and additional researchers from Western University and New York University) enough time to properly analyze its usefulness.
What are the benefits of a four-day workweek?
MacLeod told Narcity that the "flexibility" offered by the workweek has endeared it to many of his colleagues. He said about 15 employees at the municipality were working four days a week, while 16 others were working four days a week every other week.
"But definitely from a work life balance, I think everyone loves it," MacLeod said. "We do have a couple of employees that have kids, so they find it's one less day of daycare for them."
The rest of the town are buying in too, according to MacLeod, who said that he's not received any complaints or feedback about the extra day off of work from residents.
"There hasn't been any negativity that I've seen personally or heard from members of council," he said.
What are the challenges of a four-day workweek?
It's not all smooth sailing, according to one expert, who mentioned the cons of switching away from the traditional workweek include difficulty for older workers and changing expectations for customers.
From a logistical standpoint, MacLeod said making sure he always had enough staffers working in-person at once was tough.
He explained that the process takes buy-in from management — who have to relinquish some control over employees who are in the office less — and from workers, who need to do five-days worth of work in four days.
"In this instance, you know you're treating people like adults to know that you have to get your work done in the four days," MacLeod said.
"It's just a mindset change, because you're there that four days instead of five. Instead of putting something off to that fifth day, you've got to get it done."
How can other companies set up a four-day work week?
If you're interested in the idea, you're not alone — research suggests around half of Canada's companies say they'd try a four-day work week.
MacLeod said that getting total buy-in from everyone is important, and if he were starting from scratch he'd have more conversations with staff about expectations around time on and off.
"But we sort of did it by hook or by crook and in the end, I think we'll get to where we have to be," he said.
Make the rules the same for everyone, MacLeod advised, acknowledging that it's easier with a big workforce (especially when you have to remain accessible and accountable to the public).
"Make sure you return phone calls [and] you're responsive to the public. And if [we're] not, you know, we're going to hear about it," he said. "If one person or two people are not pulling their weight, then the whole thing is going to go."
The good news, he added, is that his workers have a vested interest in making sure the rest of the pilot program works out well.
"There's pressure from the workers to make sure that everybody else is doing their work," MacLeod said, "because no one wants to see it go."
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
This Ontario Town Has Tried A 4-Day Work Week For Over 6 Months & 'Everyone Loves It'
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