COMP NEWS – One California congressman has submitted legislation to standardize the 32-hour workweek, as efforts surrounding the movement continue to grow.
The four-day workweek is as buzzy as ever, and one California Congressman wants to make it federal law.
Rep. Mark Takano, who represents California’s 39th district, has reintroduced his 32-hour Workweek Act to Congress, which, if passed, would officially reduce the standard definition of the workweek from 40 hours to 32 hours by amending the Fair Labor Standards Act.
His proposal would mandate overtime pay for any work done after 32 hours, which would encourage business to either pay workers more for longer hours, or shorten their week and hire more people.
The bill applies to non-exempt workers, who typically work hourly jobs across leisure and hospitality, transportation, construction, manufacturing, wholesale, and retail trade.
This is by design, Takano tells CNBC Make It. “The serious conversations about the reduced workweek are happening for white-collar professions. What my bill will do is spur conversation about how we democratize this norm to other sectors of the workforce so everybody benefits.”
Though the 32-hour workweek is gaining popularity, some critics decry its “one-size-fits-all” approach.
Not everyone is on board with a 32-hour workweek law. When asked for comment, a spokesperson with the Society for Human Resource Management referred CNBC Make It to a previous statement opposing similar legislation introduced in the California Assembly last year.
Critics oppose the legislation for its “one-size-fits-all approach,” writes Emily M. Dickens, chief of staff and head of government affairs at SHRM. Dickens writes that a similar bill could exacerbate staffing shortages, raise labor costs and make life more difficult for HR professionals and businesses “struggling to recover from the worst days of the pandemic.”
Now that the 32-hour Workweek Act is back in Congress, Takano says the next step is to “get more and more people understanding the arguments for it, to bring in the business executives and the employees who’ve experienced positive effects of a shorter workweek, and begin to reduce the anxieties around change.”
To read more about the 32-hour workweek, click here.
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