Two California Assemblymembers are looking to make a four-day workweek the law of the land in the state, responding to the "Great Resignation" and post-pandemic malaise about work.
The eight-hour workday has been the standard since Henry Ford first adopted it in the 1920s. In 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act set the work week at 44 hours, also establishing overtime payment requirements and a minimum wage, and creating age requirements for work. In 1940, the act that was amended to change the workweek to 40 hours, and ever since, it’s been not just the standard, but the law.
Even as that law passed, there were already people advocating for a shorter workweek than that, with some senators pushing for the standard to be set at 30 hours. Now, there’s a bill in the works in California that would bring the workweek closer to what those lawmakers envisioned.
Assembly Bill 2932 would set the workweek at 32 hours rather than 40. Any time worked past the 32-hour mark would fall into overtime, which would start at 1.5x pay. Past 12 hours worked, that jumps to 2x pay.
The bill would only apply to companies with 500 or more employees.
California Assemblymembers Cristina Garcia (D-Los Angeles County) and Evan Low (D-Santa Clara County) co-authored the bill.
“We’re hearing time and time again about greater worker flexibility,” said Assemblymember Low. “That’s what workers are demanding, and this provides us an opportunity to reimagine the workforce, uplifting the voices of workers,...
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