California pushing for 32-hour workweek at larger companies as part of pandemic-driven shift

California pushing for 32-hour workweek at larger companies as part of pandemic-driven shift

USA Today reports:

California is trying to become the first state in the nation to make a four-day workweek a state law.

The state introduced a bill that would make the official workweek 32 hours and no longer 40 hours for companies with 500 employees or more, giving higher raises and time-and-a-half pay to any worker who surpasses that cutoff. A typical workday would remain eight hours.

The bill – AB 2932 – also states that 12 hours past the 32-hour cutoff would require double the normal wage and workers would not be docked pay for working less than 32 hours. The bill does not address or cover workers who are under a collective bargaining agreement, however.

The bill was written and proposed last week by State Assembly members Cristina Garcia and Evan Low, both of them Democrats. A similar bill is being pitched at the federal level under the Fair Labors Standards Act.

Garcia told The Los Angeles Times that the idea was prompted by a major shift in employee welfare that was born during the COVID-19 pandemic when many workers left their jobs seeking a better quality of life. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 47 million Americans quit their jobs in 2021. The shift also comes as working from home has become more normalized amid the pandemic. [Continue reading…]

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