Additional remuneration for weekend work is usually a matter of agreement between the employer and the employee (or his representative). The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require additional pay for weekend work. However, non-exempt workers who are not exempt must receive at least one and a half times their standard rate of pay for more than 40 hours worked during a work week. We will keep an eye on the political decisions that will be made in the coming months to determine whether 3-day weekends continue to be a utopia or, on the contrary, are a real possibility. “It makes sense for tasks where people can`t do the work remotely,” Cappelli told Newsweek. “It`s beneficial for employees who can do something completely different on this fifth day, like spend a long weekend. “There`s this hope that a four-day work week will lead to greater job satisfaction, better work-life balance — especially longer weekends and free time that allows for travel — and fewer commutes,” said Oliver Schilke, a professor in the Department of Management and Organizations at the University of Arizona, to Newsweek. American workers desperately need a break, and pandemic-related lockdowns have recently shown how workers can be just as effective – and sometimes more effective – even when traditional work practices are disrupted. A 32-hour week would not only reward productivity, but also offer the possibility of a three-day weekend each weekend. If it`s not a good life, I don`t know what it is.
As a reminder, before the pandemic, Americans spent more hours at work than people in other comparable countries. As millions of jobs disappeared in the spring of 2020, the length of the working day in the U.S. increased by nearly 50 minutes, with many workers investing time in the evenings and weekends. This has led to epic proportions of burnout – and a greater willingness to deal with misfortune, as evidenced by the wave of departures known as the Great Resignation and the reluctance of a large number of office workers to return full-time in person. The UAE has also just announced that federal employees will be moving to a four-and-a-half-day work week starting in the new year, with the weekend now starting at noon on Friday. They said it will “increase productivity and improve work-life balance.” Schilke said that while employees are eager to do more in four days to have a longer weekend, that mood could fall flat over time. Researchers say the logic is flawed. Around the world, business leaders who switched to three-day weekends said they saw higher productivity and greater employee satisfaction. Employees needed fewer sick days and office overhead decreased. The bill was drafted by Reps.
Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) and Evan Low (D-San Jose). At the federal level, a bill by Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside) is pushing for similar changes under the Fair Labour Standards Act. Assembly Bill 2932 would set the work week at 32 hours instead of 40 hours. Any time worked beyond the 32-hour mark would fall into overtime, which would start at 1.5 times pay. After the last 12 hours worked, this increases to 2x the salary. “This significant increase in labor costs will not be sustainable for many businesses,” she wrote against the bill, noting that labor costs are often among the highest costs a company faces and that many companies operate with very low profit margins. “Such a large increase in labor costs will reduce the ability of businesses to hire or create new jobs, and thus limit job growth in California,” Hoffman said. “This is especially true now that businesses are still recovering from the impact of COVID-19 and the resulting increase in supply chain costs. “Is an extra salary required for weekend or night work? » Information on the working hours of the FLSA elaws advisor.
Garcia said discussions were underway about how the rules for employees would work. She said the bill doesn`t apply to workers with collective agreements because “I like to think it`s a lower limit, and often our collective agreements are better.” Here`s what you need to know about this potentially monumental change: In Iceland, a four-day workweek pilot project didn`t lead to a drop in productivity — but it did cause workers to report less stress and burnout, as well as higher levels of positivity and happiness. Countries such as Scotland, Japan and Sweden are testing the concept. A California law that would reduce the work week to 32 hours has given employees hope of having more work time, but business management experts say that doesn`t have to be the case. Thus, a four-day work week for these employees would mean that they would only have to be in the office four days a week, but that would not necessarily mean that they would only work four days. “Now we have the opportunity for businesses, workers and workers to have an honest and open conversation about what it looks like, and then we will make the appropriate changes,” Low said, adding that the bill was a “work in progress.” The idea of a four-day work week has taken hold amid America`s great overhaul of the role work plays in our lives. Joe O`Connor, head of the global pilot program for the Four Day Week campaign, told Insider`s Stephen Jones that the momentum for the shortened week has been “incredible” in recent months. O`Connor is the coordinator of a four-day pilot project in Ireland, with the United States and Canada for the following tests. At this point, it is very unlikely that the law will be passed. Commercial interests are strongly rejected, while relatively few residents seem to be aware of the proposal.
The legislation is very targeted and only affects non-unionized companies with more than 500 employees. Yet, despite its narrow scope, the bill raises a broader issue that affects workers nationally. The California initiative is an attempt to provide long-awaited assistance to hard-working Americans. If this goes into effect, hourly workers would receive their same 40 hours a week – for four eight-hour days. Everything else, and they would accumulate overtime. (Unionized businesses are exempt, say the proponents of the law, because they are governed by collective agreements.) As Takano said in his statement on the law, “After a nearly two-year pandemic that has forced millions of people to explore remote work options, it`s safe to say that we can`t just get back to normal — and shouldn`t because normality hasn`t worked.” “Virtually all the interest in this topic is aimed at freelancers who don`t have regular working hours anyway. So the real question is whether the 4-day week is a different way of working from home on the fifth day,” he added. Unionized workers or those with collective agreements are exempt, Garcia said. Life is stressful.
Our weekly mental wellness newsletter can help. Importantly, the bill would also prohibit employers from reducing an employee`s regular rate of pay because of the requirement to reduce the hourly work week. Schilke said employers might also worry that there could be a drop in customer satisfaction if fewer employees are available to address concerns. Ashley Hoffman, a political advocate for the California Chamber of Commerce, said the additional labor costs imposed by the bill would include a minimum 10 percent increase in wages per employee per week. In early 2021, the government of the Más País political party promised to conduct a social experiment targeting 200 voluntary companies to test a pilot project for a week of 4 or 32 hours and provide 50 million euros in aid to these companies. “But on the cost side, even if they reduce the number of hours [of work], there could still be perceived pressure to get things done in less time,” Schilke continued. “The workload may still be the same, but the number of hours provided could be lower, significantly increasing the pressure and stress for employees.” “Companies that make the change may find that it leads to a better work-life balance, allowing team members to engage more and use their time and company resources more efficiently,” Forbes reports. CalChamber even sent a letter to the low meeting member saying that labor costs would be “unsustainable for many companies” if AB 2932 were introduced. Despite its relatively short scope, the proposal faces strong resistance. The California Chamber of Commerce put the legislation on its politically powerful list of “job killers,” warning that it would “discourage job growth in the state.” The National Federation of Independent Business, a lobby group for small businesses, is in hyperventilation. The Wall Street Journal`s hyper-conservative editorial page is also on the case.
Their logic will almost certainly carry the day – at least for now. As a longtime California political observer recently told me, “This is an election year. No one wants to campaign with the label of “job killer” around their neck. Progressives in Congress are backing a bill that would reduce a regular work week from 40 hours to 32 hours — bringing the four-day work week to America. “It can be beneficial and motivating in the short term, this pressure of `Oh, if I only work four days, I should be worth it and put in a lot of effort,`” he explained. But it could really exhaust people in the long run. Increased pressure to get things done in the limited time they have could be very exhausting and counteract this motivating aspect of things. “The ability to register and maintain the best skills is a huge cost saving in itself. The 3-day weekend is an evolving model in Japan, the UK, France, Sweden and the US, as it was only the first or last Friday of the month.