cogitoergofun:

A Congressman Just Introduced Legislation for a Four-Day Workweek

We've seen the idea gain steam internationally as of late. Why shouldn't the US give it a try?

Gizmodo

It turns out some Members of Congress despise the five-day workweek as much as the rest of us. This week, Rep. Mark Takano of California introduced groundbreaking legislation meant to make four-day workweeks the norm in the US, instead of the Monday-through-Friday grind full-time workers have learned to accept as inevitable.

“Many countries and businesses that have experimented with a four-day workweek found it to be an overwhelming success as productivity grew and wages increased,” said Takano in a statement about the proposed legislation. He went on to add that especially after a pandemic that left so many Americans unemployed and uncertain about their financial futures, embracing a shorter workweek would “allow more people to participate in the labor market at better wages.”

Takano came up with a clever way to turn the 5-day, 40-hour workweek into one that lasts 4 days—and 32 hours—instead. Specifically, his drafted legislation would lower the maximum hour threshold for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). For those unaware, the FLSA is a federal labor law passed back in the late 1930s that gives most workers across the country the right to a minimum wage, and access to “time-and-a-half” overtime pay when those workers are on the clock for more than 40 hours per week.

By lowering the threshold for what is and isn’t “overtime,” Takano’s proposal argues that more people would be able to access some of that sweet sweet overtime pay that’s currently available to those working more than 40 hours per week.