Senate Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) questions witnesses with ranking member Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) during a hearing about working hours in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on March 14, 2024 in Washington, DC.
The four-day workweek is gaining momentum in Congress: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced legislation Wednesday that would reduce the standard workweek to 32 hours without a pay cut.
The act would shorten the standard workweek over four years by mandating that overtime pay kicks in after 32 hours worked in a week, down from the current 40. Those who work more than 8 hours in a day would get overtime pay at time-and-a-half, and those who work more than 12 hours in a day would be entitled to double their regular pay.
Today's 40-hour workweek has been federal law since 1940 following the passing of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Proponents of a shorter workweek say advances in technology have made workers more productive, but have not resulted in higher wages or time back.
"The financial gains from the major advancements in artificial intelligence, automation, and new technology must benefit the working class, not just corporate CEOs and wealthy stockholders on Wall Street," Sanders said in a press release introducing the bill.
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The bill applies to non-exempt workers, who typically work hourly jobs across leisure and hospitality, transportation, construction, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade.
Supporters say a lower overtime threshold would encourage business to either pay workers more for longer hours, or shorten their week and hire more people.
4-day workweek has picked up in recent years
Money Report
The Senate bill isn't the first time the shortened workweek has been floated in Congress. It's a companion bill to one in the House of Representatives, which was reintroduced by Democratic Representative Mark Takano of California in March 2023.
Takano first introduced the legislation to Congress in 2021. It was endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, made the rounds on the internet, but ultimately failed to advance in Congress.
Sanders, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, led a hearing on the bill Thursday. He was joined by Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, which raised the issue of a 32-hour workweek during union strikes last year.
Several Republican Senators expressed opposition to the plan. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said a mandated 32-hour workweek would harm small businesses, restaurants and trades, which could lead to layoffs if businesses can't keep productivity up.
Recent Congressional action follows global experiments to test a four-day workweek in the last few years, which have gotten workers and their bosses onboard with the idea. Participants have reported benefits such as lower rates of stress and burnout, as well as better productivity, wellbeing and happiness.
Several countries have their own laws codifying a shorter workweek. France, for example, standardized a 35-hour workweek in 2000 and is considering reducing it to 32 hours.
Roughly half of full-time working adults in the U.S. say they work more than 40 hours per week, including 39% who work at least 50 hours a week, according to 2019 data from Gallup.
A majority, 87%, of U.S. workers say they'd be interested in a four-day workweek, and 82% believe widespread adoption in the U.S. would be successful, according according to a 2023 survey of 1,047 people from Morning Consult.
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