A massive retail company is experimenting with 4-day work weeks

The catch? Before they can start dreaming about three-day breaks, Uniqlo employees will have to put in 10-hour days during the rest of the week. The program will be voluntary, and the company expects about 20 per cent to sign up initially.

Fast Retailing say they’re introducing the measure to retain full-time employees, who might appreciate an extra day off for caring for their families instead of having to downgrade to part-time schedules.

IT’S a work perk we can all get behind. “The idea is that if you’ve got kids, it gives you a lot more flexibility”, a Fast Retailing spokesman said.

Uniqlo will open two stores in Toronto in 2016 – one at the Eaton Centre, and the other at Yorkdale Shopping Centre.

The retailer has built a network of 1,500 stores in 16 countries, including 39 locations in the U.S., by offering moderately priced casual clothing.

The parent company of Uniglo, the clothing chain, became the most recent firm to enter into the work-life balance discussion when it announced on Friday that it would let certain employees work a four-day week. “If people are happy, the retention rate is high”, Uniqlo USA Chief Executive Larry Meyer told Bloomberg in March.

As we’ve looked at before, it’s hard being a working mom, juggling the important yet difficult goals of providing both the financial and emotional support children need. But Volkswagen dropped the four-day work week in 2006, as part of contract negotiations. Uniqlo said it expects about 20 percent of employees to accept the offer.

In the U.S., a 4-day workweek is offered as an option to at least some employees at 43 percent of companies, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. It’s unclear how the four-day work week would impact overtime hours or pay.