Merritt to pilot four-day work week to recruit and retain staff

“What other communities are offering is substantial and sometimes that is mixed with other benefits that the city has a hard time keeping up with and we don’t know that we want to keep up with, given the demands put on taxpayers. We really are trying to be efficient and mindful in that regard. We think by providing this benefit it is going to allow us to compete for the top, highest level of talent, without having to do that with the taxpayers wallet,” said Smith.

There is currently no start date for the program as City Hall is still working through some of the details.

The project will be reviewed at the six-month mark through staff and public surveys to gauge its effectiveness and identify areas where changes may need to be made.

“We’ve seen a number of different pressures in our community here in the last couple of years, ranging from COVID-19 to fires and most noticeably the floods. It’s been a stressful environment — that’s the easiest way to put it. And we as an employer are trying do everything that we can to support our citizens and support our employees as well through that. We have been looking at a number of different options that we could implement that could make a difference for our people and very quickly landed on four-day work week,” added Smith.

by Michael Reeve

Merritt to pilot four-day work week to recruit and retain staff

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