National Program for Work Time Reduction Launches following Successful Four-Day Week Trials at Canadian Companies

“Four-day work week hailed as a success in Canada, with companies citing reduced sick days, steady revenue and overall employee satisfaction“

Trials of a four-day working week have officially concluded at a number of Canadian companies, and the initial results look promising, with employers citing reduced personal / sick leave, increased productivity and overall employee satisfaction at the forefront.

Following this overwhelming success, the Toronto-based Work Time Reduction Centre of Excellence is now launching a National Work Time Reduction Program to encourage and support Canadian companies across the country to work smarter and shorter.

PRAXIS, a public relations firm that was one of the companies that recently completed a trial, experienced success with 100% of employees opting in to continue the four-day week for an additional six months. “The four-day work week trial was an exciting and successful experience for all our team members,” said Maureen Juniper, Co-Founder and Partner. “We had 100% of our staff taking rest days and during this period we saw an 18% decrease in personal and sick time. As well, we saw a noticeable improvement in staff recruitment and retention efforts. As a business leader, I am pleased to say that there was no decline in revenue and time spent on administrative tasks dropped 16%. We are looking forward to extending the trial for an additional six months and are aiming to fully adopt a four-day week following that”.

The WTR CoE has made it easy for companies to implement reduced work time initiatives (including but not limited to four-day work week initiatives) through the introduction of the National Work Time Reduction Program, an offering that is designed to support companies across Canada to transition to a shorter work week. The WTR CoE knows that adopting a shorter work week can be complex and challenging, and has created programs for every type of business, from start-ups with 20 employees to multinational companies.

Sensei Labs, a global Enterprise B2B SaaS company, chose to trial a four-day work week to give their team more flexibility, increased efficiency and to drive talent retention and attraction. “The four-day work week was a huge success for Sensei and our whole team is strongly on-board to continue,” said Jay Goldman, Co-Founder and CEO. “We saw 30% of our staff hit the target of reducing time worked by 20% with all employees experiencing some degree of decreased work time. As a whole, the trial challenged our teams to think critically and to identify best process practices”.

WTR CoE director and co-founder, Joe O’Connor, is passionate about changing Canadian work environments for the better, “the evidence is in – shorter working weeks lead to happier and healthier employees, and the organizations that they work for are better positioned to attract and retain talent.

Through a commitment to operational excellence and a culture of continuous improvement, they can also create more productive and efficient businesses. There’s a real and significant opportunity for ambitious, imaginative leaders to be at the forefront of this change and differentiate themselves from the competition.” The National Work Time Reduction Program is now available to companies across Canada. For more information visit worktimereduction.com.