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CaliforniaRep. Mark Takanohas reintroduced a bill that aims to trim back the traditional 40-hour workweek, after dozens of companies in the United Kingdom have already jumped on board andreported positive results, according toThe Washington Post.
Last June, the world’s biggest trial of the four-day workweek launched in Britain, where over 3,300 workers from 70 companies worked fewer hours for 100% of their pay and maintained the same level of productivity. According to thePost, over 90 percent of U.K. companies said they wouldn’t go back to the old model.
“Workers across the nation are collectively reimagining their relationship to labor – andour laws need to follow suit,” said Takano, a Democrat who made history as the first openly gay person of color elected to Congress and strives to continue making changes.
“We have before us the opportunity to make common sense changes to work standards passed down from a different era,” he said. “TheThirty-Two Hour Workweek Actwould improve the quality of life of workers, meeting the demand for a more truncated workweek that allows room to live, play, and enjoy life more fully outside of work.”
Washington state Rep. Pramila Jayapal, an original co-sponsor on the bill, gave her own statement on March 1 regarding the matter, saying workers' well-beingshould be given priorityover corporate profits.
“For too long, our country has prioritized corporate profits over working people and Americans have been forced to work longer hours, sacrificing time with loved ones,” she said, continuing:
Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty
The press release noted thatthe majority of workers would be “non-exempt, hourly workers,“but “some salaried workers fall under the scope of the bill’s provisions.”
“On average, U.S. workers work 200 hours more per year than workers in other developed countries,” Takano’s proposal noted. “The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the conversation around the future of work. It is time the United States equally prioritize quality of life and productivity.”
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In 2021, Takano told Reuters: “This is not an insincere, cavalier thing we’ve done. It is a sense on my part that wide swaths of the American workforce are worn out and tired, and the pandemic has made them be more real about their lives after seeing someone die or be at risk of dying.People are seeing that time is just as important as money.”
Takano said on March 1 that he’s passionate about the 32-hour workweek to bring about “a significant change which will increase the happiness of humankind.”
source: people.com
