Inside the case for a four-day workweek.
"People are spending more time at work, less time with loved ones, their health and well-being is worsening, and their pay has remained stagnant. It's time for change," TakanoHe has framed the legislation as an opportunity to recalibrate work-life balance amid a broader reconsideration of how Americans work — and have been exploited — during the pandemic.
If it’s enacted, the bill wouldn’t actually put a ceiling on how many days someone could work in week. Rather, it would require that employers pay overtime — time and a half — after 32 hours of labor. Itcertain kinds of workers, like gig workers and salaried employees exempt from overtime.
If it’s enacted, the bill wouldn’t actually put a ceiling on how many days someone could work in week. Rather, it would require that employers pay overtime — time and a half — after 32 hours of labor. The idea is that the policy would nudge businesses — and employees — to rethink work in the form of fewer hours or more efficiency in the workday, or some blend of the two. Baker said that when France reduced its workweek — which also worked by reducing the hours before overtime kicked in — it was expected that it would provide new jobs for workers to take up the work that wouldn’t get done in a shorter week. Instead, it mainly caused a “substantial” boost in productivity.
When I asked Baker whether such a law would destabilize the U.S. economy, especially businesses with slim profit margins, he said he believed that while some businesses would be pushed over the edge, “you’ll see the vast majority of businesses adjust to it,” particularly if it is phased in.The four-day workweek has become a subject of increasing fascination around the world in recent years — and experiments with it tend to look promising.