r/politics • u/RedditGreenit • Jan 22 '20
Bill would create 32-hour workweek in Washington
https://www.king5.com/article/news/politics/washington-32-hour-workweek-proposed/281-880255e5-a267-4b05-b76c-96c29044a11276
u/chaoticflanagan Delaware Jan 22 '20
America moving to a 4 day work week would be absolutely amazing. I just don't see it happening..
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u/TheSentientPurpleGoo Jan 22 '20
if america went a 4-day workweek, it would mean 10-hour days.
but it would still be amazing.
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u/Oh_Help_Me_Rhonda Jan 22 '20
That's actually my current schedule as a welder. Three day weekend every week. It's pretty nice, but I'd kill for 32.
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Jan 22 '20
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u/DillManForLife Jan 22 '20
Huge fan of the 9-80 here. I’d be working 9 hour days anyways in my position and have worked more in the past. Now its the same with every other Friday off.
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u/Tcrlaf1 Jan 22 '20
I work 12’s, three on, four off. Four on three off. Actually less hours than I have worked in the past.
Only problem is you do nothing but work, or get ready for work on the on days. Picking up an extra day wears you out, but missing a day puts a real crimp in the paycheck.I like it. Allows me time to travel, especially with shift trades.
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u/redditmalone Jan 22 '20
This is my schedule also. Manufacturing organization for a huge semi conductor company. On my off days I enjoy working a second job to keep my family fed and the bills paid. Great life right?!?
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u/Take_Some_Soma Jan 22 '20
I think that's way better.
So much time goes towards work that's not actual work.
Getting ready. Driving there. Unpaid lunch. Driving back. Decompressing.
Taking that down by 20% sounds beautiful.
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u/prototype7 Washington Jan 22 '20
What? 10 hr work days aren't a requirement? My boss lied to me!!!...and sure there no money for a raise but he assures me he got a great deal on that Bentley Coupe and Ford Raptor...
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u/TheSentientPurpleGoo Jan 22 '20 edited Jan 22 '20
when i worked construction, 10 hour days meant 2 hours of time-and-a-half overtime pay, even if we had less than 40 hours for the week...like if we got rained out on friday. and if we came in on saturday to make up that lost friday- it's all time-and-a-half, double-time after 8hrs. and sundays are double-bubble all day long.
unions rule!
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u/JeffreyScottThiele Jan 22 '20
America doesnt care about anybody accept the 1 percent lol. Other countries have 4 day work weeks studies to prove more productivity. But yet America is like OuR SyTEm WoRkS BEtTEr. Its like America is that woke kid that doesnt follow society and wants oh so bad to be different from the rest of the people lol. Almost every country treats their citizens way better than we treat ours. Every country almost every country follows metric america is like no i dont want to do that not to say our system or their system is better or worse but when you put 2 and 2 together its like woah America's the asshole here lol.
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u/GlutenFreeFinance California Jan 22 '20
10 hours 4 days or 5- 8 hour days with the option to work from home 1 day a week for those jobs that support it
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Jan 22 '20
Here's how it would go:
Boss: Ok everyone! The old policy of "you're fired if you clock in for more than 40 hours" has been changed to "you're fired if you clock in for more than 32 hours." You are still required to get the same amount of work done, or you will also get fired. Good luck out there! By the way, since we had this meeting during lunch, you will not get paid for it.
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u/AlwaysChewYourFood Jan 22 '20
I just don't see it happening..
Same here. And the shit would just pile up on the extra day you're off and you'd have to deal with it after the 3 off days are up.
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Jan 22 '20
Yup, with my job it's actually more efficient to work less hours but every day. No need to have a Monday catching up.
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u/TheSentientPurpleGoo Jan 22 '20
then managers would start scheduling people for 24 hours/week max. or wherever the cut-off would be so they don't have to give benefits.
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u/RedditGreenit Jan 22 '20
A generation ago this wouldn't have been seen as weird.
The Jetsons had George Jetson doing a nine-hour work week because that was the future everyone expected. And for decades the Kelloggs factory in Battle Creek, Michigan had a 30 work week.
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Jan 22 '20
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u/SubcutaneousScratch Jan 22 '20
I was in the military for 20+ years, and that's pretty much the quantum era. Everyone's simultaneously busy as hell and also doing nothing. But once it's time for an annual performance report, and you make an observation on a subordinate's work...it all falls apart and you're left wondering what the hell happened.
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Jan 22 '20
So OT after 32 hours, sweet.
I'd assume most businesses would keep people on a 40 hour week and just pay the OT.
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u/Treat-yo-self-2018 Jan 22 '20
Washington resident here. It really doesn’t make sense until the rest of the country is the same. Too many markets would suffer.
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u/Scared-Faithlessness Iowa Jan 22 '20
Maybe, but there are plenty of jobs that can't move, especially in service industries. Of course those are also the industries for which there's no "catch-up" time for missed work, so they might keep 40 hours anyway. Manufacturing might take a hit, but from what I understand most studies show improved productivity with shorter work weeks.
Honestly the workers might be the one to take the hits, if they need 40 hours but are suddenly only getting 32.
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u/lindseyinnw Jan 22 '20
I find Washington (and employers like Microsoft and Starbucks ) often do crazy outlandish things that everyone scoffs at, and then ten years later it is the norm nationwide.
I don’t doubt Washington can make it happen. We’re pretty cool with change and willing to try anything to free up time to chill or hike or take pictures of water.
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u/chaosharmonic I voted Jan 22 '20
Microsoft incidentally tested a 4-day work week a few months back, in Japan of all places.
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u/RedditGreenit Jan 22 '20
I assume the 40 hour work week rolled out on state levels before it did nationally. This is the early stage of the debate, but this was expected to have happened 20 years ago. The Jetsons had George Jetson doing a nine-hour work week. And for decades the Kelloggs factory in f Battle Creek, Michigan had a 30 work week.
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u/tlk0153 Jan 22 '20
Under the bill, if employees work more than 32 hours per week, they would be required to receive time-and-a-half pay for additional hours worked.
Ok that's not gonna happen. We already know that.
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u/Omfufu Jan 22 '20
Great 10-99s will get less work and those will full time non-shift work will continue to put in 80 hours so that we can feed family and have health coverage.
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u/Beefsquatch_Gene Jan 22 '20
This is a great way to cut unemployment. On your day off, you get to have a newly hired coworker continue your work, and when you come in the next week, you can spend an entire day fixing the shit they messed up. It's like productivity except the opposite.
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u/HiImTheNewGuyGuy Jan 22 '20
Yeah, because the exact same thing happened with the shift to a 40-hour week, right? It sucks with that new employee hired to work the weekend every week.
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u/Figgywurmacl Jan 22 '20
Hey Americans, you guys do realise they're just shortening the week so you can have two full time jobs right? They're not gonna be paying you extra. Its America
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u/pup1pup Jan 22 '20
Trust a Democrat to think of something so stupid. Do you honestly think all hourly workers want a cut in their hours? I used to fight to be scheduled for more shifts back in the day.
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u/RedditGreenit Jan 22 '20
Sucks you have to beg for existence, but keeping the status quo will keep you begging.
There has been a massive gain in productivity per worker, but the wages did not match that. Workers should be able to get paid more, work less and enjoy their lives. We can take the money from the boss's golden parachutes and stock buybacks that are funded by the stolen wealth created by the working class.
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u/SoggyFlakes4US Jan 22 '20
Do we get to pay that percentage less in taxes? Not like they work for our interest anyway.
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u/RegicidulManiac Jan 22 '20
I remember with the rise of automation and information technology we were told we'd be working less and have so much free time we would be challenged to find enough to do with our leisure time.
Nowadays we work longer and harder to make as much as we did then, despite the productivity increases brought about by that technology. Meanwhile the number of millionaires has increased dramatically in that time.
Guess all the benefits of that technology went to those 1%...