Nothing shook the traditional American workweek quite like the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
It was a time when some employers, perhaps for the first time, were forced to take a long look at a remote work structure. For many, they had to figure that out or risk no productivity at all. Heightened technology softened the blow and made working from home feasible in many industries. The pandemic resulted in employers all over the world unfortunately shutting their doors for good. But, keeping the workforce afloat with remote options saved many other companies that may have otherwise followed suit.
In the years since, as companies continue to wrestle with the idea of keeping remote work in place, a larger upheaval to the workweek has loomed – not where employees will work, but for how long each week.
Same Pay, Less Hours
A four-day workweek isn’t entirely a new concept. For years, some health and service professionals have worked four 10-hour shifts while other industries incorporated a four-days-on, four-days-off, 10-hour per workday employee work schedule. Whether it is four days or five days, employers are still getting 40 hours of work from employees and employees are enjoying a weekday off to take care of personal business or relax with a longer weekend. It has been a well-accepted work schedule, but a new proposed bill seeks to overshadow the traditional four-day workweek.
The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders in early 2024 seeks to reduce the 40-hour workweek to 32 hours with no loss in pay for employees. The legislation, if passed, would require employers to phase out the 40-hour work week over a period of four years. The threshold would become lower for hourly or nonexempt employees to receive overtime pay for any hours worked over 32. Protections are built into the bill for pay and benefits for all employees.
While other proposals have been introduced over the years in the United States to change the Fair Labor Standards Act set in 1940, none have yet succeeded. But as employees urge for a better work-life balance and companies attempt to balance the books and employee satisfaction, the bill may have some staying power this time.
Calming Employer Anxiety
It is not a far-fetched notion that employers may be leery about shorter hours and the same pay but with improved or consistent levels of productivity. But less than 40 hours per week is working in other countries. For example, the legal workweek is 35 hours in France, where studies show the country holds the seventh-largest economy in the world. In Iceland, the results of a four-year experiment to find out what happens when industries move to a four-day workweek, with no reduction in pay, now has an entire country restructuring its schedule.
From 2014 to 2021, separate trial runs of four-day work weeks were conducted in Iceland by the government and by the Reykjavík City Council, the results of which were compiled in a report released by a nonprofit association called Alda and an independent think tank called Autonomy. About 2,500 workers were involved from various organizations, including preschool/childcare, hospitals, social services, shiftwork, outdoor work, and typical offices. Participants made up about 1.3% of the country’s workforce.
Most of the groups in the trial shortened their workweeks to 35 or 36 hours and kept their employees at their normal levels of pay. Astoundingly, researchers called the experiment an “overwhelming success.” Levels of productivity and services among participating organizations remained the same or improved.
The benefits to employees were expected – a better work-life balance and stronger health and wellbeing. However, the experiment also provided major advantages for employers. Happier, healthier employees contributed to more job satisfaction, better performance, and as a result, higher productivity – even in fewer hours.
Following the trial, about 86% of the Icelandic working population works shorter workweeks. Other workweek hour reduction pilot programs, including some in the United States, report employers not only experienced an increase in revenue but also had lower turnover rates and more successful recruitment efforts. The studies also noted that companies found they produced less carbon emissions with shorter workweeks.
The trial programs, so far, have shown promising evidence that a reduced hourly workweek produces positive outcomes for both employees and employers.
