Regional service commission adopts four-day work week

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The Greater Miramichi Regional Service Commission has become one of the latest local organizations to test the waters on a four-day work week for several employees.

The RSC’s board of directors unanimously approved a compressed work week for staff as part of a six-month pilot project at the March 27 meeting.

Miramichi Mayor Adam Lordon said he voted in favour of the city’s move to adopt a similar model for non-unionized staff after a one-year trial period. He said he’s happy the RSC is doing the same.

“It would be hypocritical of me not to support this given that I supported the motions to do the same thing at the city,” he said. “The commitment to not disrupt front-line services is critical.

“For example, if someone wants to come in on a Friday, I would have the full expectation that a human will meet them during the hours that the office is open. The same goes for any professional services we offer.”

The model has also been adopted as a pilot project in other municipalities across the province, including the former town of Sackville and the towns of Riverview and Quispamsis.

Similar models were considered in Fredericton and Saint John, and Moncton tried it for a year. The Miramichi River Valley rural community also experimented with it for two months last summer, and the Upper Miramichi rural community has long had an alternating compressed schedule in place for its office staff.

In a report presented to the board, commission CEO Wilson Bell said the compressed schedule allows employees to work full-time hours in fewer days than the traditional five-day week. He said the model has several benefits, including an improved work-life balance, better employee satisfaction rates, recruitment perks, and helping organizations retain staff.

Bell said the trial will allow the RSC to “evaluate the impact on productivity, employee satisfaction, and overall organizational performance” from April 8 to Sept. 30. Staff taking part in the pilot will work 35 hours a week over four days, with workers split into alternating teams switching biweekly between a Monday-Thursday and Tuesday-Friday schedule while taking Mondays and Fridays off.

“The policy requires compressed weeks to have four 8.75-hour workdays with a 30-minute lunch break,” Bell said in his report. “Shifts may run from 7 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., 7:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., or 8 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.”

If a holiday falls on an employee’s regular day off, Bell said the day will be credited as additional statutory banked time which the employee must use during the current calendar year.

Bell also said existing service levels must be maintained and the RSC’s office on Water Street will still be staffed five days a week and remain open to the public.

“Participation is optional for employees, but anyone choosing to take part must stay on the compressed schedule for the duration of the trial period, barring any unforeseen circumstances,” Bell said in his report.

“We recognize that a compressed work week may not be suitable for all employees or positions. At the end of the trial period, there will be flexibility for employees to opt-out or switch back to a traditional schedule if needed.”

Bell said new hires choosing to work a compressed week will be assigned to a team by their manager, pending shift changes and operational needs.

Bell said the impact of the compressed week on productivity, employee satisfaction, and “overall organizational performance” will be monitored, with the pilot’s success being evaluated and tweaks made as needed. He said 50 per cent of RSC staff expressed support for the trial in a recent survey. The other half couldn’t make it work due to childcare arrangements, scheduling conflicts, and “other life circumstances.”

Lordon asked if staff participating in the trial could work from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. or a later shift. Bell said he’s open to that idea, but no one has expressed interest in it.

“We should be open to different models and seeing what works,” said Lordon.