A four-day work week may be gaining mainstream momentum in corporate Canada as workplaces continue to fine tune post-pandemic schedules and working conditions, new research suggests.
A survey by recruitment firm Robert Half found 91 per cent of senior managers polled said they would support a four-day work week for their team.
Most managers also anticipate their company will transition to a shorter working week within the next five years.
Among workers polled, nearly three-quarters said they would put in four 10-hour days in exchange for an extra day off a week.
Offering workers the option of a four-day work week could support employee retention, productivity and wellbeing, the research found.
“Giving people the autonomy to create their own schedule demonstrates a level of trust and that has shown to really boost morale and productivity,” said Mike Shekhtman, senior regional director with Robert Half.
While shift workers such as nurses and police officers have long worked condensed weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic shook up workplace culture and the ubiquity of working a 9-5 day, five days a week in an office.
“It shifted the work paradigm and the way we think and operate,” Shekhtman said. “We’re at a pivot point where people are trying to reimagine with a blank canvas what the best model would look like to support the work and expectations of a position but also align with what people are looking for.”
The 9-to-5 work day, and later the five-day work week, was widely adopted during the Industrial Revolution.
It hasn’t changed much since, said Sandeep Aujla, CEO of Multilevel Leadership Consulting Inc.
“We moved from the industrial era to the information era and we never changed,” she said. “But the pandemic has forced us to reconsider our work schedule expectations.”
While a four-day work week might be the right fit for some people and organizations, Aujla said it’s not a one-size fits all solution.
“I don’t believe in global solutions. I personally really believe that flexibility is the key,” she said. “The solution is to think creatively and say, ‘Let’s meet people where they are at,’ as opposed to imposing a blanket solution on everybody.”
A four-day work week can mean two different things: a compressed week or a reduced week.
In a compressed model, employees generally work ten hours per day for four days per week.
Many employees are already working 10-hour days, said Sarah McVanel, chief recognition officer at human resources firm Greatness Magnified.
“A lot of people are working those longer hours anyway. They put their kids to bed and then they get back on the computer,” she said. “Lots of professionals are working too many hours and that’s what’s burning them out.”
Reducing a work week to four days, even if each day were officially 10 hours rather than eight, would help the physical health and mental wellbeing of many workers, McVanel said.
The Robert Half survey found 78 per cent of workers polled said they would have no problem unplugging on their extra day off.
Meanwhile, in a reduced week, both the total number of workdays and the total work hours are reduced, such as eight-hours a day and four days a week.
A non-profit group called the 4 Day Week Global advocates for what it calls the 100-80-100 model – 100 per cent of the pay, 80 per cent of the time, and 100 per cent of the productivity.
It’s launched a pilot in the United Kingdom involving more than 70 organizations. A survey conducted at the half-way point of the experiment found 88 per cent of participating organizations reported the four-day work week worked well for their enterprise, according to a report by the International Labour Organization.
Also, 49 per cent reported improved productivity while 46 per cent reported achieving the same level of productivity despite a reduced work week.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 19, 2023.
Two Canadian companies have been named in separate frozen-potato price-fixing lawsuits south of the border.
McCain Foods Ltd. and Cavendish Farms are two of the companies accused of being part of a “potato cartel,” conspiring with other large potato processors by sharing pricing data in an effort to raise the price of frozen potatoes in the U.S.
The two other companies named in the class-action lawsuits are U.S. companies Lamb Weston Inc. and J.R. Simplot Co., as well as an industry association called the National Potato Promotion Board.
One of the class-action complaints was filed in an Illinois court on Nov. 15 while the other was filed in an Illinois court on Nov. 17.
The class actions have yet to be certified.
McCain and Cavendish have not responded to requests for comment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian and American embassies in Ukraine are closed to the public today after the U.S. warned of a “potential significant air attack” by Russia in Kyiv.
Ukraine’s intelligence agency posted a statement today accusing Russia of spreading fake messages about the threat of an “extremely massive” attack on Ukrainian cities and urging people not to panic.
A message from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv says it received specific information about a possible attack and out of an abundance of caution, employees are sheltering in place.
Global Affairs Canada’s website says in-person services at the Canadian Embassy are temporarily suspended.
Ukraine used U.S.-supplied missiles to strike inside Russia for the first time this week, a move the Kremlin says adds “fuel to the fire” of the war.
U.S. President Joe Biden gave the green light for Kyiv to strike Russian targets and to use antipersonnel landmines, as part of a larger effort to bolster Ukraine’s defence before Donald Trump takes over the White House in January.
Trump and his allies have been critical of American funding for Ukraine, stoking fears the president-elect could cut off supplies to the embattled country.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters this week that he has long called for allies to give Ukraine permission to strike Russian military targets.
“I have, for months now, talked about how important it is to degrade the capacity of the Russian military to strike into Ukraine with impunity because Ukraine hasn’t been able to strike on factories and military production sites in Russia,” he said in a press conference in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.
Trudeau and Biden discussed Ukraine in a bilateral meeting this week at the G20 leaders’ summit.
Trudeau was critical of the G20’s final statement, saying it was not strong enough in its support of Ukraine. Russia is a member of the G20 and this year’s statement from the leaders did not mention Russia at all.
The BBC reported Wednesday morning that missiles supplied by the U.K. have also been used inside Russia for the first time since the conflict began more than 1,000 days ago.
The Biden administration’s move is being seen as an escalation in Moscow.
Asked Tuesday whether a Ukrainian attack with longer-range U.S. missiles could potentially trigger the use of nuclear weapons, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov answered affirmatively.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2024.
— With files from Dylan Robertson and The Associated Press
LONGUEUIL, Que. – Canada’s new lunar rover will head to the moon when it’s built, but first it needs a name.
The Canadian Space Agency has begun polling the public on four possible choices: Athabasca, Courage, Glacier or Pol-R.
The rover, still in development, will be the first Canadian craft to explore the moon’s surface, with a launch scheduled for 2026 at the earliest.
It is expected to explore the lunar south pole, and among its tasks will be searching search for water ice, a key to the future of human space exploration of the moon.
Online voting starts today and continues until Dec. 20, and the agency is not providing an option for write-in votes.
The agency says it wants the name to be representative of the mission or to allude to Canada’s role in space.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2024.
