Liberals, NDP eye four-day work week projects

Two Ontario political parties are promising to explore a four-day work week if they form government, an idea that has met with great success in one southwestern township, but business groups are wary.

The Liberals pledge to launch a “demonstration” to show the potential of a four-day work week, consulting with business and labour groups to design and evaluate the model.

Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said the pandemic has spurred the need for an examination of worklife balance.

“For so many workers and their families across this province, despite the fact that they show up, despite the fact that they work hard every single day, they are falling further and further behind,” he said. “This notion of balance between work and life really has spiraled out of control. I think in particular, during the pandemic, people are exhausted, they’re burnt out, we see worker productivity dropping.”

The NDP say they would reintroduce one of their private member’s bills from 2021 that would establish a four-day work week commission to develop recommendations on how to implement a year-long pilot project.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said it would allow the government to both explore the opportunities that a compressed work week could bring but also identify any challenges that arise.

“Some of the things I want to flag though, is a concern around making sure people’s income is not negatively affected with the cost of everything going up,” she said.

Rocco Rossi, the CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, said a growing number of businesses are experimenting with four-day work weeks, but it is important for those decisions to come from employers.

“Governments can play a role in encouraging, enabling, or incentivizing flexible work – though policymakers will need to be careful to avoid potential disruptions for business, the economy, and workforce inequities,” he said in a written statement.

Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford said decisions on work weeks are best left up to the private sector.

“I’m not going to dictate to the companies what works best for them,” he said.