Rep. Mark Takano, who represents California’s 39th district, has reintroduced his 32-hour Workweek Act to Congress, which, if passed, would officially reduce the standard definition of the workweek from 40 hours to 32 hours by amending the Fair Labor Standards Act.
His proposal would mandate overtime pay for any work done after 32 hours, which would encourage business to either pay workers more for longer hours, or shorten their week and hire more people.
The bill applies to non-exempt workers, who typically work hourly jobs across leisure and hospitality, transportation, construction, manufacturing, wholesale, and retail trade.
This is by design, Takano tells CNBC Make It. “The serious conversations about the reduced workweek are happening for white-collar professions. What my bill will do is spur conversation about how we democratize this norm to other sectors of the workforce so everybody benefits.”
In addition to the OT wages for hourly folks cited above, this would also make 32+ hour workers ELIGIBLE FOR HEALTH INSURANCE, because a lot of companies skirt the law by scheduling folks for juuuuuuust below the minimum number of hours to qualify in order to fuck them over and pad their profit margins.
It’s not universal health care, but it’s a small step closer, and helps folks who have been getting fucked over.
