The rise in remote and hybrid work since the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the discussion of a better work-life balance in the last few years. A four-day work week is one topic within this discussion.
Some employers in Canada and other countries have already tested the four-day work week, and some have adopted it.
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In Joe O’Connor and Jared Lindzon’s newest book, “Do More in Four: Why It’s Time for a Shorter Workweek,” they say with the right approach, employees, companies and society can all greatly benefit from a four-day work week.
Since 2018, O’Connor, CEO and co-founder of Toronto-based Work Time Revolution, has worked with companies to adopt a four-day workweek, without impacting productivity negatively, and helping them redesign their workplaces for our current landscape.
Leaning on pre-existing research, the book details the positive outcomes that O’Connor’s work has produced.
“Based on the data, the evidence, the case studies, this is not just something that is possible, this is something, if designed and executed correctly, can be very desirable for businesses and can deliver very positive outcomes,” O’Connor told CTVNews.ca.
“This book is a message to the workforce, to employees, that there is an opportunity in front of us, but we need to grasp it.”
Positive impacts on employers
O’Connor says a four-day workweek can have positive outcomes on employers when it comes to productivity, employee engagement, recruitment and retention.
Companies struggling with employee burnout, disengagement, and talent recruitment and retention benefited from a four-day work model, Lindzon said.
Furthermore, Lindzon added, companies found success using a four-day workweek to attract and keep talent in a competitive market.
They also found that offering a four-day work model improved employee well-being, focus, engagement and motivation, and reduced burnout, sick leave and absenteeism, as well as costs of talent turnover.
All these factors helped impact productivity positively.
“When burnout and mental health and well-being are a significant cost and a significant concern, the four-day workweek has proven an effective solution,” Lindzon, a Toronto-based freelance journalist who has reported extensively on this topic, told CTVNews.ca.
O’Connor also noted that a four-day workweek encouraged prioritization of tasks.
“Parkinson’s law says a task expands to fill the time available for its completion,” O’Connor said.
“A shorter work week is an exercise in laser-focused prioritization and the things that really matter. When you start to clear away the clutter, we see organizations, almost counteractively, find ways to achieve more in less time.”
Moreover, Lindzon notes, companies should focus on measuring productivity in output and outcome rather than hours.
By doing so, Lindzon says, companies can focus greater time and energy on the business’s underlying goals and aspirations, rather than hours worked.
Positive impacts on employees
For employees, a four-day workweek can positively impact their mental and physical health, according to Lindzon.
With a four-day workweek, case studies showed individuals are better rested and recharged and they are more motivated due to the incentive of the shorter workweek – conditional on meeting organizational productivity expectations, according to O’Connor.
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A four-day workweek also gave individuals more time to prioritize their mental and physical health, engage in nature and engage with their communities.
According to a North American four-day workweek pilot O’Connor led back in 2022, most employees value a good work-life balance over pay.
Of the 41 participating organizations, 45 per cent would require a pay increase of greater than 25 per cent to return to a regular five-day schedule, while 14 per cent said no amount of money would persuade them to return to a five-day rotation.
In a similar study O’Connor led in the United Kingdom, he saw similar results.
“Work-life balance is now something that is more important to the global workforce than pay,” O’Connor said.
Positive impacts on society
Societally, a four-day workweek, according to O’Connor and Lindzon, could positively impact sustainability efforts, family planning and gender equity.
“We still have a standard workweek that was designed for an industrial economy that no longer exists,” O’Connor says. “One in which, back to when the five-day nine to five was invented, it was a mostly single-income, single-gender workforce.”
“Therefore, is it surprising that has created this incredible strain on family life?”
O’Connor, though, says a shorter workweek won’t solve everything.
“But across many of the biggest public policy challenges that are facing us as a society, this is something that can really be something to help us make progress on some of these big issues.”
How do companies adapt
In Canada, nine in 10 Canadians are interested in a four-day workweek, according to a study done by recruiting platform Talent.com.
O’Connor and Lindzon say the switch to a four-day workweek is only successful when it is planned, gradual and employees feel connected to the process.
“It’s not a one-way street or a one-way conversation where your manager walks into the office and launches a productivity initiative and says you’re going to become 20 per cent more efficient,” O’Connor said.
“The conversation is started with ‘we believe that it is possible that if we find ways to become more productive, that we can give you back some more of your time.‘”
Lindzon says if companies want to start implementing a four-day workweek, they should do so gradually and thoughtfully.
“You want to do it in phases,” Lindzon said.
“Maybe start with a summer Friday program or a half-day Friday program, and then maybe one Friday off every couple of weeks. It’s about a gradual approach that’s measuring outcomes and adjusting.”
