It’s no longer news that the world of work is experiencing an upheaval. The pandemic, the “great resignation” and mass layoffs in some industries have ushered in new norms and ever-evolving ways of doing business. Two practices that regularly make headlines are remote work and four-day workweeks. A third that should be on your radar? Fortnight scheduling.
A “fortnight” is a British English term meaning a time period of two weeks. Fortnight scheduling, then, is when employees work a four-day workweek once every two weeks; in other words, employees on a fortnight schedule work nine days out of every 10.
I work at the UBC Career Centre, which introduced fortnight scheduling in March 2022. We refer to it as flex scheduling. Each of us was offered the option to maintain our traditional schedule or to opt in to this new model, and many staff chose the latter. On a flex schedule, we work slightly longer days for nine consecutive workdays, then get the 10th workday — our flex day — off from work without using vacation time.
The biggest benefit for me has been having more time and energy to pursue non-work obligations and interests: I now volunteer in my community, make more consistent progress on creative projects and travel more (every other weekend is a long weekend when your flex day is Friday or Monday). As a career development professional, I know that life satisfaction and fulfillment come from both within and beyond my work. Flex days are one way that my work supports my non-work pursuits, ultimately leading me to derive greater satisfaction and fulfillment from both.
So, how have we made this unique schedule work in a career services context?
- Leadership set the expectation that opting in meant opting in on an ongoing basis rather than for a singular two-week cycle. Of course, if it didn’t work for someone, they could opt out later, but it was clear that we couldn’t opt in and out on an “as-needed” basis.
- Those who opted in each requested a specific weekday as their flex day, and managers created a schedule that distributed their team’s flex days across the week. This ensured that we were appropriately staffed to operate and deliver services on every weekday.
- The number of days each employee worked in-person remained stable at three per week.
- We created a shared calendar to keep track of when each of us is on a flex day.
- Those “flexing” work an extra 45 minutes/day on their nine workdays per cycle.
- When someone’s flex day falls on a statutory holiday, they designate a different day of the week as their flex day for that cycle. However, staff can’t bank multiple flex days together into a multi-day vacation.
If you’re thinking about implementing this schedule, here are a few things to consider:
- How will you ensure coverage to deliver sufficient services or programs?
- Will a system like this change the amount or structure of vacation time you offer?
- If you manage employees who work occasional evenings and/or weekends to provide specialized services, how will these extra hours affect their fortnight schedule?
- If your workplace is a unionized environment, how does this practice align with the collective agreement(s) for the union(s) that your employees belong to?
- Will part-time, student or non-unionized staff have access to flexible scheduling? If so, what will that look like?
- How might a system like this impact your operations in other areas not outlined here? How might students benefit from the role modelling of life/work balance?
Fortnight scheduling is one of many ways to provide employees with flexibility, which may boost employee satisfaction and retention. Like any new routine, it will take some time for everyone to adapt to; however, the benefits of such an approach outweigh the drawbacks.
