Waterville City Hall, above, will be open four days a week for extended hours on an eight-month trial basis starting Jan. 1, following a City Council vote this week. Councilors in support say the change will improve employee morale and give residents opportunities to do business at City Hall outside of normal work hours. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel file

WATERVILLE — City Hall employees will go from a five- to four-day work week on an eight-month trial basis starting Jan. 1.

The City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday night to approve the new schedule, which would mean employee hours will be 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday and they will have a half-hour for lunch. City Hall is now open from 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.

The council on Nov. 19 took a first of two votes needed to shorten the work week to four days and extend their daily hours to 10.

Supporters say the change will help recruit and retain good workers, boost employee morale, and give the public more opportunity to do business at City Hall before and after regular business hours.

Bryan Kaenrath Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel

City Manager Bryan Kaenrath and Bobbi-Jo Green, the city’s human resources director, pitched the idea to councilors Nov. 19, with Kaenrath saying the world has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic, the nature of work schedules has evolved as a result, and many municipalities have moved to a four-day work week. Many seeking employment are interested in a four-day work week, he said, or a hybrid situation where they also work from home.

Kaenrath further said Waterville is losing good people to more attractive opportunities. The city recently lost two employees in the finance and code enforcement departments to positions that offered remote or hybrid flexibility, he said.

Many other Maine municipalities have already gone to four-day work weeks.

Among them, South Portland and Gorham went to a four-day workweek in 2023, and Lewiston changed to a four-day workweek in September. Canaan officials voted Monday to change to a four-day work week starting Jan. 6, with employees working 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday.

The change affects only the 24 full-time and two part-time city employees who work in City Hall. It will not affect employees in the Public Works or public safety departments, which will be considered later for possible schedule changes.

Councilor Ken Gagnon, D-Ward 5, said he opposes the change, which he said will benefit the city administration, not the public, and raises questions about how union contracts would be affected. A work week change, according to Gagnon, would require pages of city ordinance changes.

“This was all signed, sealed and delivered when we got it,” he said.

But Council Chairwoman Rebecca Green, D-Ward 4, said the City Hall work week change is based on what other municipalities are doing.

“I think that we have had evidence of what other communities are doing and what the staff wants,” she said, “and I mean, this is change, right? I’m in favor of going ahead and trying this with an eight-month reassessment period. We can tweak anything that we need to and we can change course if it’s not working.”

Councilor Tom McCormick, who is unenrolled and represents Ward 7, questioned how holidays and floating holidays will work with the change and recommended postponing a vote. But Councilor Thomas Klepach, D-Ward 3, said the council has enough information to proceed. Gagnon and McCormick voted against the change.

Resident Dan Anderson said he also opposed it. If a person gets paid on a Friday and wants to register a vehicle at City Hall, that should be an option, he said.

Resident Nancy Sanford said there could be an issue after the trial period. “If citizens hate it and the employees love it, good luck on trying to roll it back, is just a thought that I have,” she said.

City Hall employees were surveyed for their thoughts and about 99% support the work week change, according to Kaenrath.

Dresden, Monmouth, Newport, Oakland, Pittsfield, Pittston and Winslow now close their town office Friday.

Other municipalities whose offices are closed Friday include Bath, Belfast, Biddeford, Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland, Falmouth, Lisbon, Sanford, Scarborough, Windham and Wiscasset.