March 16th 2023.
If you've been dreaming of a four-day workweek, it could potentially become a reality after California Congressman Mark Takano proposed his 32-hour Workweek Act to Congress. According to CNBC, Takano is advocating for a shorter workweek for non-exempt employees in industries like leisure, hospitality, construction, and retail. He stated, “The serious conversations about the reduced workweek are happening for white-collar professions. What my bill will do is spark dialogue about how to spread this norm to other areas of the workforce so everyone can benefit.”
Takano believes that decreasing the 40-hour workweek could be beneficial for people. He remarked, “It would be a significant change that could heighten the contentment of humanity. This was a huge deal 100 years ago when the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed and gave us weekends.” He went on to say, “These are all part of the social justice discourse.”
Shorter workweeks may result in more competitiveness in the workplace. While employees might be able to obtain higher wages due to the competition, not everyone is in favor of Takano's initiative. CNBC reported that critics think a 32-hour workweek is a “one-size fits all approach” that could make it difficult for businesses recovering from the pandemic to manage. Opponents are concerned that increased labor costs and lack of personnel could have an adverse effect on HR professionals and businesses. Supporters of Takano's proposal say businesses would be compelled to hire more staff if the workweek is shortened.
4 Day Week Global conducted a pilot program with 61 businesses and found that the roughly 3,000 UK employees involved experienced improvements. Takano said 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 seen the advantages of a reduced workweek and begin to reduce the apprehensions about change.”
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