A new bill in Congress would move the United States toward a 32-hour standard workweek, with supporters arguing that workers should benefit from productivity gains linked to artificial intelligence and automation. The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act, introduced this week by independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Democratic Representative Mark Takano of California, would gradually lower the point at which many employees become entitled to overtime pay from the current 40 hours a week to 32. It would also seek to prevent employers from cutting workers' pay or benefits because their standard hours get reduced.
The measure does not mean American workers would automatically be ordered onto a Monday-to-Thursday schedule or something similar. The bill would change federal overtime law, effectively making it more expensive for employers to routinely require covered workers to put in more than 32 hours. Under current federal law, most workers covered by overtime protections must be paid at least one-and-a-half times their normal rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a week, according to the Department of Labor.
The new legislation would lower that threshold gradually rather than making an immediate switch. The standard would fall to 38 hours in the first year, 36 in the second and 34 in the third before reaching 32 hours. That would not stop an employer from asking someone to work longer.
But once the new limit was fully phased in, an eligible employee working 40 hours would generally be entitled to eight hours of overtime rather than receiving overtime only after their 40th hour of work. The proposal would also introduce nationwide overtime requirements based on the length of the working day. Covered employees would generally receive time-and-a-half after eight hours in a day and double their normal rate after 12 hours.
It says employers could not reduce an affected employee's weekly compensation or benefits simply because the standard working week had been shortened. It would not, however, guarantee everyone three days off each week. A business could arrange 32 hours over four days, but the proposal itself does not prescribe which days employees must work.
It would also not apply equally to every U.S. worker. The proposal would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act, and federal overtime law already includes exemptions for some categories of employees, including certain executive, administrative and professional workers as set out by the Department of Labor. The idea has been circulating in Congress for several years.
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