With views on work-life balance changing amid the pandemic, a Chatham-Kent councillor thinks a four-day work week is something that should be explored.
Councillor Clare Latimer will introduce a motion next month directing staff to prepare a report outlining the framework of what would be needed to consider a shorter work week.
"There are studies that show people are more productive and that they appreciate having a longer time to decompress and relax," said Latimer. "It fits in with the work-life balance that a lot of our employees are striving for."
Latimer is suggesting that full-time municipal employees work 35 hours per week over four days or that the 35 hours per week be reduced to 28 hours.
"I think this would help the municipality save some money," said Latimer. "How much? I don't know, but there have been municipalities in Ontario that have tried pilot programs and have found them beneficial."
The report will outline what transitioning into a hybrid workplace will look like.
"Chatham-Kent is changing and we are bringing in people from all different walks of life," said Latimer. "We've put in working remotely policy and it further enables this."
On Monday, municipal councillors were presented with an update on the working remotely policy since its full launch in 2021. A survey from August 2021, revealed that employees were pleased working from home with significantly higher satisfaction in 2021 than in 2020.
"Remote workers cited increases or improvements in productivity, focus, customer service, efficiency, confidentiality, and mental health compared to working in the office," the report read. "The working remotely policy has now been fully implemented with 340 requests approved for the 2022 calendar year. This is a five per cent increase over the requests approved for the 2021 pilot and a 24 per cent increase over the number of employees who migrated to working remotely due to the pandemic in 2020."
Latimer will present her motion at the March 7 municipal council meeting.
