With millions of Americans changing jobs, a California politician wants to use the “Great Restoration” to create a better work-life balance for workers.
Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia has co-sponsored a bill to turn the state’s official work week into 32 hours for companies with 500 or more employees. Any work done beyond this cut would come with a significant increase: employers would have to pay time and a half to workers who have more than 32 hours a week. And work more than 12 hours a day or seven days a week would be paid twice the normal wage.
Employers subject to the law, which would apply to 20% of California’s workforce, would also be banned from reducing people’s wages if they work less than their standard work week, Garcia told CBS News. The bill would not apply to workers represented by a union and covered by a collective agreement.
“After two years of being in the pandemic, we’ve had more than 47 million employees quit their jobs in search of better opportunities,” Garcia said. “They send a clear message that they want a better work-life balance: they want better emotional and mental health, and that’s part of that discussion.”
California’s economy is the fifth largest in the world and the largest among the United States, making it a benchmark for many aspects of the work culture.
Job killer?
The proposed law covers about 2,600 businesses in California, according to the Department of Employment Development.
The California Chamber of Commerce called it a “job killer,” saying it would make hiring more expensive and cause jobs to fall in California.
“Labor costs are often one of the highest costs a business faces,” House Advocate Ashley Hoffman wrote to co-sponsor Bill Evan Low last week.
“[B]Companies often operate with thin profit margins and … the number of employees you have does not determine your financial success, “he wrote.
Evidence from other countries suggests that a four-day work week can have positive effects, increasing employee productivity while reducing stress. A comprehensive rehearsal in Iceland last summer concluded that a shorter working week was a “overwhelming successSince then, 8 out of 10 employees in the country have gone to work four days a week. Other countries included ScotlandSpain and even the famous Japan, a workaholic, have tried shorter work weeks.
Garcia argues that large companies, which have had theirs most profitable quarter since the 1950syou can afford to pay more to workers.
“We want to see them share part of this better life with their employees as well,” he told CBS News.
Working more than farmers
In the US, a handful of companies have started experimenting with a four-day week. Kickstarter officially launches its reduced work week this month. “[M]The expectation and my wish is that we can achieve the same results or greater results as a result of changing the way we work, “CEO Aziz Hasan told Time about the change.
D’Youville College, a small private school in Buffalo, New York, began testing a four-day week in January. President Lorrie Clemo said the measure would “improve the overall well-being of our employees and the competitiveness of our institution.”
But in general, the shortened working week has been a relative rarity in a nation where workers work longer hours than in most other industrialized countries.
The typical American worker now works about 1,770 hours a year. Among the developed economies, only four nations (Israel, Korea, Russia, and Mexico) devote consistently more hours than America. Historical records suggest that 14th-century peasants worked far less than contemporary Americans; in contrast, nineteenth-century factory workers spent significantly longer hours.
Garcia's bill is similar to a federal bill presented to Congress by Mark Takano, a California Democrat, and endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
"People spend more time at work, less time with their loved ones, their health and well-being are getting worse, and their pay has stagnated. It's time for change," Takano said in a statement.
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