California Congress members are pushing to make the four-day work week the law of the state. Rep. Mark Takano, Democrat from 39 statesTh The eastern district of Los Angeles includes part of Riverside County, has reintroduced the 32-Hour Workweek Act, which will reduce the definition of the workweek and compel companies to pay overtime for what work is done over the amount of time.
“Workers across the country are collectively redefining our relationship with the workforce — and our laws must follow,” Takano said in a statement. “We have an opportunity to make common-sense changes to work standards inherited from a different era. The Thirty-Hour Week Act will improve the quality of life for workers, meeting the demand for a shorter work week that allows room for life, play , and enjoy life outside of work.
Takano first tried to get the bill passed last year, but failed to advance. He reintroduced the bill after promising results from the world’s largest four-day workweek study, which found that nearly all companies that tried a truncated workweek plan to continue with shortened schedules.
The bill has been endorsed by several labor groups, including the AFL-CIO and the Economic Policy Institute.
Takano’s action, he noted, will not limit the number of hours employees can work. It’s a change in the federal definition of the workweek, aimed at helping non-exempt hourly workers.
The bill was referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. It is impossible to make much progress beyond that. The committee is chaired by Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and critics have taken issue with the “one size fits all” approach.
The Society for Human Resource Management stood in opposition last year to the same bill introduced in California, saying “This bill will also create a significant logistical burden for human resource professionals, especially in companies with operations in several countries. And it will certainly be bad for business in California, increasing staff shortages, increasing labor costs and making life more difficult for many businesses struggling to recover from the worst days of the pandemic.
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