Ottawa Valley communities considering four-day work week for municipal employees
It's often heard as talk around the water cooler in offices, but at town halls across Ontario, employees have switched to a four-day work week.
"Well, I think it's coming out of the pandemic," says Scott Vokey, executive director of the Ontario Municipal Administrators' Association.
"People are just looking for change, looking for a redress on work-life balance."
Seven rural municipalities across Ontario have implemented a four-day work week for staff, along with two municipalities in eastern Canada and one in Alberta.
The main driver of the work week change is a search for the coveted work-life balance. Municipal employers also see the four-day work week as a tool to attract and retain employees in a competitive job market.
In eastern Ontario, officials in Arnprior and Renfrew tell CTV News they are considering the idea.
"We're looking at a policy around that, and those are some of the ideas that are coming forward from our staff that we're looking at as options for sure," Arnprior CAO Robin Paquette said.
In the municipalities where it has been implemented, the four-day work week is an option, with employees taking Monday, Friday, or neither off.
Vokey says that service and availability to the public remain the priority for towns making the change, and those that have changed their working schedule have increased their hours.
"Jane, employee number one, you've signed on to work Monday to Thursday, but it's an extra hour," explains Vokey.
"It's an extra hour of service to the public. And there might be another person, Bill, who does Tuesday to Friday, same deal. So instead of being open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., they're now open 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. or 6 p.m."
Zorra Township was the first to move to a four-day workweek in Ontario. The latest was the Township of Algonquin Highlands.
The township's mayor says morale among staffers is at an all-time high and productivity has remained consistent or improved.
"It's been great," says Liz Danielsen.
"Staff are loving it, it's working really well. We're getting the business of the municipality done the same as we were before."
Danielsen says of the 40 full-time employees at the township, only two did not switch to a four-day work week due to childcare reasons.
Paquette says rural Ontario has a chance to prove the model is successful in different circumstances.
"There's an understanding that small municipalities might have more flexibility in their policies and in their workforces, and gives us an opportunity to be a testing ground for these kind of changes."
Many workers across the country are hoping this can pave the way to permanent long weekends.
"I see no reason why this would not work for larger municipalities or for businesses," Danielsen said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.