The four-day work week has been trialled around the world, had the thumbs up from a Senate committee, and now a regional Queensland council is assessing whether the model is the right fit for its staff.
A Western Downs Regional Council report has found that, if implemented, a shorter work week could improve staff satisfaction without compromising customer service.
The council commissioned Chantelle Clarke, a CQ University PhD student, to undertake the research earlier this year, which she said was part of the council's plan to "promote work-life balance and worker satisfaction".
Ms Clarke believed it to be one of few times a local government had explored the possibility of a four-day work week across its entire workforce.
"The final report revealed several key findings," Ms Clarke said.
"It suggested the implementation of a shorter work week policy could improve job satisfaction and it could improve work-life balance, recruitment, and retention."
The nearby Lockyer Valley Regional Council has already implemented a four-day work week, based on the 9.5-hour work day model, for some field-based employees such as parks and roads staff.
"The majority of field-based employees who have the four-day week are supportive of it, citing an improved work-life balance," Lockyer Valley chief executive Ian Church said.
"The four-day week lends itself to field-based operations, where work can be coordinated to ensure the effective management of such an arrangement."
Mr Church said the model had been in place since council amalgamations in 2008, and no analysis had been undertaken to understand its suitability for other service delivery areas within the council.
Gaining momentum
The concept of a shorter work week for the same pay has been at the forefront of workplace relations discussions in recent years.
The concept has been gaining momentum internationally too including trials in Iceland and in the UK, which showed a reduction in staff turnover, absenteeism, and burnout.
Dozens of private businesses in the country have already trialled the four-day work week, including Momentum Mental Health in Toowoomba, which reported an increase in productivity and staff satisfaction.
Jennifer Luke, a careers and wellbeing expert based at the University of Southern Queensland, said there were two main models for a four-day work week.
One is where employees work for four days at eight hours a day and maintain 100 per cent productivity and 100 per cent pay, or alternatively they work a 40-hour week over four days, rather than five.
Ms Clarke said the latter option was more attractive from a council perspective.
"At the moment, we were just looking at what would happen, and then how that would then help inform workplace agreements," Ms Clarke said.
Positives and negatives to change
Dr Luke said while there were positives to the four-day work-week, there were also negatives.
This included a potential reduction in productivity and services from organisations if the model was not implemented properly.
"Where the benefits have been is looking at where an employer is wanting to increase productivity … because people aren't as stressed because they've got that spare day in the week," Dr Luke said.
But she said a four-day work week did not suit all industries, especially those that required workers five to seven days a week.
"That includes emergency services, logistics, public transport, but also a lot of areas of education as well," Dr Luke said.
While it could be beneficial for local governments and the public sector if they needed a productivity boost, Dr Luke said organisations needed to be "very careful" in their exploration of the change.
"What happens about overtime with staff?" she said.
"Also a lot of project management needs to be involved in sorting out scheduling for this and, of course, it's about monitoring the performance of staff as well.
"There are a lot of things that you need to put in place for it to work. It's not an overnight thing."
Retention a 'major issue'
The Services Union local government organiser, Tom Rivers, said staff retention was a major issue for local governments across the state.
He said if councils provided alternatives for employees to complete their weekly hours, that might stem some of those challenges as workers may find a "progressive" policy attractive.
But he said it would not suit all local government workers, but it could be better suited to individual teams of workers.
Council yet to commit
The Western Downs Regional Council is considering the report and is yet to publicly commit to implementing a four-day work week.
Chief executive Jodie Taylor said Ms Clarke's research would inform future considerations for the council's workforce.
"[The council] is a future-fit organisation and it's important we continue to explore new ways to support a positive work culture and enhance wellbeing and productivity, which ultimately leads to greater outcomes for the community we serve," Ms Taylor said.
"The Western Downs region is not immune to the current challenges facing local workforces right across the country, so it's important we're proactively planning for the future."
