Town mulls 4-day weeks for administrative staff

Oliver might be the next B.C. community to switch its administrative staff to a compressed work week that would see town hall closed on Mondays in a bid to keep workers happy.

Town council chewed on the idea at its meeting Monday and sent it back to staff for more information — but not before expressing some support for giving it a try.

“It sounds like an interesting idea. With the workplace challenges we have today, staff retention is a huge thing and these types of things make work-life balance a little better,” said Mayor Martin Johansen.

“Knowing that it costs around $40,000 minimum to replace an employee, having the ability to use something like (a compressed work week) for staff retention is, I think, an idea worth exploring.”

Coun. Aimee Grice suggested the move would be an important non-monetary perk to woo new employees.

“It is difficult for a municipality of our size to compete with wages with municipalities the size of Penticton or Kelowna, so if we can do things to improve the work-life balance for our staff that’s great,” said Grice.

Administrative staff currently work Monday to Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., while town hall is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Under the new scheme, those same staff would work Tuesday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5:45 p.m., while town hall would be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.

“This would make services more accessible to residents before work and after typical business hours. This would be of assistance to residents that need to come to town hall to conduct business, but also work Monday to Friday in regular office hours,” wrote Ed Chow, chief administrative officer, in his report to council.

“Initial conversations have occurred with staff and have been positive. Staff believe that running a compressed work week pilot will lead to improved staff morale and job satisfaction.”

The proposed new schedule matches one that was adopted in November 2022 in Merritt, which faced additional challenges with staff retention after severe flooding in November 2021.

In another effort aimed at taking pressure of its employees, Oliver council voted in January to meet every third Monday, as opposed to twice per month, to give workers more time to write reports. Summerland council did the same late last year.