Four-day workweeks offer work-life balance for Edmonton pharmacy staff

Primrose I.D.A. in Edmonton thinks it has the answer to overwork and burnout: four-day workweeks and a flexible schedule. Reduced work weeks and increased flexibility were among the first things Dimitri Kachenyuk implemented when he became store operator and pharmacy manager in 2021. “Having that freedom of scheduling is honestly, in my opinion, the number-one priority for work-life balance. That way, it doesn’t feel like you always have to schedule your life around work. Instead, work gives you the ability to schedule your life more freely,” Kachenyuk said in a story from the Canadian Foundation for Pharmacy.Kachenyuk works four 10-hour days, takes one day off, works another four 10-hour workdays, and then has five days off. It adds up: for an extra two hours per workday, he gets 52 additional days off a year.Read: RxZZZZZ: Sleep solutions for pharmacist burnoutHe says some patients didn’t like not having him available for five-day stretches, especially Ukranian refugees who speak Ukranian or Russian with him. But they’ve gotten used to it, especially after he set Wednesdays and Thursdays as the days that he would always be in and available. He sets his schedule with a colleague, who covers for him when he’s off. They also occasionally overlap, for things like immunization clinics. Frontstore manager Sam Lowe works eight hours a day, four days a week—she takes Thursdays, which are usually quieter, off—plus a few extra hours in coverage so she can stay full-time. She’s happy the flexibility gives her more time with her young son. “This wasn’t in place when I had my baby, and I had just two hours a day with him plus weekends. It was not enough. Now, the whole extra day with him is great. I’m very happy with my work-life balance,” she says.Read: 62 burnout hacks from the QuackKachenyuk also works to keep boundaries around work, ensuring that staff don’t regularly contact each other outside of work hours. “Unless it’s absolutely necessary, I’m not going to reach out to staff when they’re at home. I leave them a note for the next time they come into work,” he explains. He’s also found that by using new software—Medi-scribe, which automates documentation for prescribing—there’s no need for pharmacy staff to stay late or come in early to do documentation. “Today, I rarely stay behind for anything whatsoever,” he says. “Not to mention things have become a lot more efficient, which allows us to expand our business.”Read: Is AI just a fad? Unravelling its real potential in medical practice

Four-day workweeks offer work-life balance for Edmonton pharmacy staff

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