This Bill Could Make The 4-Day Workweek A Law In The US Without Salaries Being Impacted
Americans would only be required to work 32 hours.
California Congressman Mark Takano taking a selfie. Right: The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
Different companies around the world have signed up for a 4-day workweek and have kept this new method offered to their employees ever since testing it.
Although it’s not required by law, some U.S.-based corporations have also joined this new way of working less than 40 hours a week.
However, this could become more widespread soon, as a California congressman is challenging the current standards and is looking to make the 4-day workweek a federal law after recently reintroducing a bill into the House of Representatives.
Representative Mark Takano’s "Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act" is aiming to change the current 40-hour workweek to a 32-hour workweek without impacting the workers’ pay and offering overtime compensation to nonexempt employees.
"Workers across the nation are collectively reimagining their relationship to labor — and our laws need to follow suit," the California representative said in a March 1 statement. "We have before us the opportunity to make common sense changes to work standards passed down from a different era. The 'Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act' would improve the quality of life of workers, meeting the demand for a more truncated workweek that allows room to live, play, and enjoy life more fully outside of work."
This bill would impact nonexempt workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which are usually hourly employees and some salaried workers as well. According to the bill, these employees usually work in industries like leisure and hospitality, construction, transportation, manufacturing, wholesale, and retail.
Additionally, if passed, employers would have to compensate workers for additional hours or hire more employees to fill in the gaps. In effect, it would also lower the threshold for overtime compensation to the 32-hour mark.
"The question of a shortened workweek is a productivity issue for employers and a quality-of-life issue for employees that branches into spheres beyond just work: healthcare, education, and childcare are all affected by the number of hours employees spend at work," the bill reads.
This proposal has been endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), National Employment Law Project (NELP), Economic Policy Institute (EPI), American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), and 4 Day Week Global, among others.