Four-day work week and basic income pilot will improve work-life balance and economic dignity
ETOBICOKE – Steven Del Duca has announced that the Ontario Liberal plan to restore workers’ economic dignity will improve their work-life balance with a four-day work week. The plan will also bring back the Basic Income Pilot Project, which Doug Ford promised not to cancel – and then callously cut immediately upon taking office.
“Blurring the line between work and home was one of the countless ways in which the pandemic changed our lives,” said Del Duca. “Ontarians have shown incredible resilience in the face of chaos, embracing flexibility, innovation, and new ways of doing work—but at the same time, people feel more depressed, anxious, and overwhelmed. The Ford Conservatives want to pretend the pandemic never happened, and have left people to struggle on their own. Our Liberal plan will boost quality of life and provide much-needed relief without hurting our productivity.”
Ontario Liberals will launch a four-day work demonstration to determine how a shorter week boosts quality of life, improves work-life balance and provides much needed relief – without a loss in productivity. We will work with businesses and labour groups to design and evaluate the model. If it demonstrates potential, Ontarians could have more time with family and doing what they love most.
The Basic Income Pilot Project was recklessly cut by the Ford Conservatives in 2018. The reinstated demonstration project will evaluate the potentially life-changing impacts of a basic income. As a first step the Liberal plan will reverse the Ford Conservatives’ cuts and increase Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and Ontario Works (OW) rates by 10%, followed by another 10% for ODSP recipients in 2023.
Ontario Liberals will restore work-life balance and economic dignity by:
- Building to a four-day work week;
- Immediately restoring the basic income demonstration project, which Doug Ford cut after promising not to;
- Giving 10 paid sick days to all workers and ban employer-required doctor’s notes;
- Banning unfair and underpaid gig and contract work;
- Creating a package of high-quality, affordable benefits for all workers.
“Being a dad to two young girls is the most important job I’ll ever have,” Del Duca continued. “A four-day work week would mean Ontario parents like me spending more time with their kids. We’re offering a clear choice in this election: the Doug Ford Conservatives, who broke their promise not to cancel the basic income pilot and clawed back sick days from Ontario workers when they needed it most, or our new Ontario Liberal team, which will help restore work-life balance for hard-working Ontarians.”