Working Remotely And The Four-Day Work Week . . .Is it Far Off?
Somewhere, after all the workplace revolutions — from the “Industrial,” beginning around 1780, all the way to the “Digital,” from about 1975 and continuing — the relationship between employers and workers has finally tilted to allow workers ever-increasing participation in the decisions that impact their work lives.
It has not shifted, yet, but there is no denying that it has changed, and that further improvements to employees’ work/life balance are inevitable.
Is the pandemic responsible?
If it did not initiate the need for changes, it definitely expedited it. If it did not discover the widespread benefits of flexible working arrangements, it certainly revealed them.
In early May, CBC reported that major North American employers were starting to require more in-person attendance from office workers, citing the Royal Bank of Canada and e-commerce giant Amazon as examples of companies recently having made those demands of their staff, citing productivity concerns.
The story quoted Linda Duxbury, a Professor at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business who claimed: “Back before the pandemic, when employers talked about productivity, it was really equated to hours at work, being available 24/7, working, being visible, never saying no, et cetera.”
She adds: “But employers have changed the definition of productivity. Now they’re saying it’s about creativity, innovation, social connection, culture.”
Professor Duxbury pointed out that a problem for employers is the paucity of any empirical evidence to establish that remote work, for most, results in diminished productivity.
The brief federal PSAC strike at the beginning of May is further evidence of this changing power paradigm in employer/employee relations.
The two largest obstacles in the negotiations were remuneration and remote work privileges, with the Union requesting a 13.5% increase over three years (yes, you read that correctly) and the government offering a 9% increase over the same period. And, although initially taking the position that its members should have the right to elect to work from home, the Union settled for a transparent process of consistent, principled responses to such requests from management, with reasons, so as to allow enforcement through the grievance process.
The same emboldened worker mentality, and the need for employers to be able to woo, secure, and retain quality employees paved the way for flexible working arrangements (like flex-time, casual labour, home-based work, teleworking or job sharing).
It is also pushing the pace for other work/life balance initiatives for employees, including the establishment of a four-day work week.
Ontario already has introduced Bill 55, the Four Day Work Week Act, 2022. It calls for the creation of a commission to conduct a four-day work week pilot project lasting at least one year, to be implemented within one year of the Bill’s passing and obligating the Minister of Labour to thereafter prepare a comprehensive report to the Legislature. It does not specify how, where, or whom the pilot project will include and, given that the Bill only recently received first reading (on December 7, 2022), its passage, if ever, is not on the immediate horizon.
The benefit to workers may seem self-evident, but the significant advantages for business owners are less obvious. Proponents of the four-day work week point out the reduced costs of space and overhead, the significant diminishment of absenteeism and sick time (a parent working from home can care for a sick child without missing a day), far higher levels of reported worker satisfaction, less turnover, and, surprisingly, more productivity.
The benefits to society at large are even more subtle.
Experts have studied the prospective reduction in traffic congestion and vehicle emissions. These have a contributing effect to improvements in general health, exercise, diet, and work/life balance — which translates to reduced healthcare costs and improved quality of life.
Importantly, it also “improves the gender balance, closes the pay gap and offers more flexibility to allow for family and childcare obligations.” (Andrew Barnes, founder of Perpetual Guardian, in an email to Quartz: QZ.com).
The results from feasibility and experimental trials from around the world have been consistently positive.
In the UK, this year 60 companies and just under 3,000 employees trialed a four-day work week with no reduction in pay (employees worked only 32 hours for the same pay).
The study reported, in March of this year, that: 91% of participating employers intended to continue the “trial” indefinitely after it ended, and only 4% intended to stop it completely; revenues increased, on average, by 35% compared to the same six month period one year earlier; 2/3 of employees reported less burnout and stress; and 96% of employees approved of the change. (Schor et al, 2022, Four Day Week Global, Auckland, NZ).
Comparable results occurred in four-day work week trials in South Africa, Belgium, Iceland, and Japan.
There is no way of gauging when the momentum for such a significant change to work life could eclipse the weight of stagnant and habitual inertia and become the norm.
The five-day work week was established, after all, through the advocacy of organized labour early in the turn of the last century to rebel against the six-day work week and create the weekend.
Perhaps the same forces are the best hope for another significant change. We may be only one major union contract negotiation away from seeing some movement.
Steven Bezaire is a local lawyer, humourist, former infant, an accomplished napper, and loves all puppy dogs and babies in the world.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author and may or may not represent the views or opinions of those associated with Biz X magazine.
