Who Supports Bill for Four-Day Working Week?

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders announced that he is introducing a bill to Congress that advocates for a 32-hour, or four-day, working week.

The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act would see workers work fewer hours for no loss of pay. According to a summary of the bill, the proposed legislation would reduce the standard workweek from 40 to 32 hours over four years. Employees would also be compensated time and a half for working beyond the stipulated 32 hours.

The Fair Labor Standards Act, introduced in 1938 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, established minimum wage, overtime pay, and employment standards for youths. This bill, although unlikely to become legislation given that many Republicans will likely oppose it, would amend the act.

As of 2019, nearly 40 percent of U.S. employees work 50 hours a week, and 18 percent, or 28.5 million workers, work at least 60 hours per week, according to a press release issued by Sanders on March 13.

"The average full-time worker in the U.S. now works 42 hours a week – although this estimate does not necessarily account for those working multiple jobs," the release said. "On top of this, more than 8 million Americans work multiple jobs, with 4.7 million working a second part-time job on top of a full-time job."

"Moving to a 32-hour workweek with no loss of pay is not a radical idea," Sanders said in a statement. "Today, American workers are over 400 percent more productive than they were in the 1940s. And yet, millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages than they were decades ago. That has got to change."

Newsweek reached out to Sanders for comment via email outside of normal working hours. This article will be updated with any response.

This isn't the first time Democrat lawmakers have pushed for a reduction in working hours. California Representative Mark Takano, who is backing the bill, introduced similar legislation in 2021, although it was not put forward to the House or Senate.

Who is backing the bill?

California lawmakers Laphonza Butler and Mark Takano have both backed the bill.

"While CEOs' wages continue to increase, our workers are finding themselves doing more, yet earning less than they have in decades," said Senator Butler, who introduced the legislation in the Senate. "The Thirty-Two-Hour Workweek Act would allow hardworking Americans to spend more time with their families while protecting their wages and making sure profits aren't only going to a select few."

Takano echoed Butler's sentiment, saying, "As the lead sponsor of the Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act in the House of Representatives and a Senior Member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, I am thrilled Senator Sanders is leading the Senate companion to this transformative legislation that will be a win for both workers and workplaces."

The proposed legislation has also been backed by a range of workers' rights groups and unions, including The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, United Auto Workers, and Service Employees International Union.