Bernie Sanders Proposes 32-Hour Workweek As New U.S. Standard

Sen. Bernie Sanders and other progressive lawmakers introduced legislation this week that would make a 32-hour workweek the new U.S. standard.

The Vermont independent said that reducing the typical workweek from 40 hours was “not a radical idea,” considering the advancements in productivity in recent decades.

“It is time to reduce the stress level in our country and allow Americans to enjoy a better quality of life,” Sanders said. “It is time for a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay.”

The bill, called the Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act, would reduce the federal overtime threshold from 40 hours down to 32. That means many employers would have to start paying time-and-a-half wages once hourly workers hit 32 hours in a week rather than 40, the standard since 1938.

The bill would also mandate time-and-a-half pay when workers log more than eight hours in a day, and double pay when they log over 12 — further discouraging employers from working their employees more than eight hours a day, four days a week.

A similar proposal was sponsored on the House side by Democratic California Rep. Mark Takano, who in a statement called it “transformative legislation that will be a win for both workers and workplaces.” Takano has been pushing for a 32-hour workweek since at least 2021.

The legislation has no chance of passing the GOP-controlled House and only slim odds in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where more centrist Democrats are likely to balk at changing wage-and-hour law. But the legislation highlights a priority for some progressive lawmakers and labor unions — giving workers more leisure time with their loved ones.

During a Thursday hearing on Capitol Hill, Sanders joked to Republicans that his bill “probably won’t be