Japanese Retailer Uniqlo May Bring 4-Day Work Week To Canada

Employees would be expected to put in 10 hours for each remaining workday, which could include Saturdays and Sundays.

Having a four-day week, however, means that the workers will be on call 10 hours a day for those four days. In order to help its working mothers structure their lives in a way that helps them care for their children, the company will introduce a system in which full-time employees can opt for a four-day workweek instead of a five-day one.

If the trial goes well, it will consider expanding the program to its corporate headquarters and more stores.

More productive employees could also contribute to Uniqlo’s rapid growth.

Japanese fashion retail giant Uniqlo will be setting up shop in Canada next year, and it may bring a labour-market innovation with it: A four-day work week.

About 43% of U.S. companies – majority smaller startups – offer three-day weekends, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.

The new work week being tested by Uniqlo is part of the company’s efforts to attract more female employees.

Treehouse, a Portland, Ore., online education company with fewer than 100 employees, has committed to a 32-hour workweek so that employees have more time to spend with their families and loved ones. The company also believes that the new schedule will improve employee satisfaction, NBC News notes. The book prompted internal investigations and the retailer promised to take action to ensure “appropriate working conditions” for its workers.

“We feel we have to enrich them”, Uniqlo USA chief executive Larry Meyer told Bloomberg in March.

The company has come under criticism for the low pay and poor conditions at the Chinese factories that churn out its low-cost clothing. Uniqlo sued the book’s publisher, but the case was dismissed.