ABILITY TO adapt and pivot during the pandemic has opened the possibility of Clare County Council introducing a four-day working week for its staff.
Potential implications of such a move were queried by Cllr Pat McMahon (FF) who supported the concept.
Director of Finance and Support Services with the Council, Noeleen Fitzgerald explained that the four-day working week can take two forms. The first where an employee works reduced hours over the standard working week contract and the second where staff do compressed hours while maintaining their contract hours over the four days.
An annual application process is followed to determine which staff members can avail of reduced hours, she explained. The compressed hours has been proposed nationally by Fórsa Trade Union who have engaged with the Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
“International studies have shown mixed results where longer working days can impact on productivity, work-life balance, but for some this can lead to increased employee engagement. These findings would need to be balanced with improved service delivery and customer satisfaction. Questions like are we spreading the provision of services across longer opening hours with the same level of staff resources would need to be considered and balanced in light of available resources both staffing and financial,” Ms Fitzgerald stated.
She added, “the ability to continue the provision of services remotely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have demonstrated this Council’s ability to pivot and change how we deliver our services. In the meantime, the local authority sector continues with various flexible working, remote working and family friendly arrangements”.
Speaking at a recent meeting of the Council, Cllr McMahon said, “as a result of the pandemic we’re going to have working from home for the rest of our lives in some form of another”. Experiments on a four-day working week thus far have been “highly positive,” he commented. “Why not be the first local authority to try this,” the Newmarket-on-Fergus representative suggested. Council staff are working over forty hours per work to complete all their tasks presently, he highlighted.
