Community Builders testing four-day work week plan

Ontario Construction News staff writer

Community Builders, a not-for-profit, construction-based social enterprise in Simcoe County and Greater Sudbury, is testing a four-day work week with a goal of improving health, happiness and productivity for employees.

The company provides training, employment, and affordable housing to meet the growing needs of their community’s most vulnerable and at-risk populations.

“We have always believed in a work-life well-being ethos and while this talk generally seems to be reserved for office jobs we hope to prove this can work in the construction industry as well,” the company said in a news release.

Community Builders’ co-founder and CEO Brandon Day says employees were all part of the process in determining how this pilot will look and how it will be measured, and that there is autonomy and accountability built into this plan for the best chance of success.

“It was really important to me that our whole team be part of the decision-making process for what this four-day work week could look like and how we would collectively ensure its success for not only ourselves but our clients and stakeholders,” Day said.

“There have been variations of four-day work weeks like this done successfully in many other countries and industries for decades, but we don’t see it being done too much in North America or in construction. However, the future of work is changing, and we want to be on the cutting edge of that in Ontario.”

Over the next six months, employees will be working Monday through Thursday and the organization will be closed for a dedicated three-day weekend on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Day says the pilot bolsters the “nothing wasted” culture. “We don’t waste time, materials, resources or lessons learned,” he said.

Community Builders’ will share results after a few months. Some of the metrics tracked will include employee health and happiness, customer satisfaction, productivity and profitability.

“The construction industry has been in need of a renovation for a long time; people are no longer willing to work 60 hours a week, get yelled at, and feel unappreciated,” Day said. “People are craving purpose, flexibility and a little autonomy over their own lives.

“Our work is important, and just to be clear, work is a good thing! Work is how we provide for ourselves and our families, it’s how we use our gifts and talents to serve our community and it’s part of a fulfilling life,” says Day. “Overwork can create bad company culture and is less productive, causing workers to be less engaged, feel unvalued, and burned out.”

After two-plus years of living through the pandemic, reports are showing significant impact to mental, physical, emotional, intellectual health and workers are looking for work-life balance.

“If COVID has taught us anything,” said Day, “it’s that we can work differently and that we’re capable of balancing our priorities when given the opportunity and trust to do so. We can care about our work and still make ourselves, our families and our community a priority.”