Covid-19 is now causing many to question how people have been working for the past many decades, including the traditional five-day, 40-hour work week. Many employees have been working remotely, however it has raised employee burnout. There is an increase of demand for an improved worklife balance for the coming year, and more employers are considering testing a four-day work week.
Even California lawmaker Rep. Mark Takano announced recently that he introduced legislation designed to make a four day work week a reality. And his press release, he had introduced legislation that would reduce the standard work late from 40 hours to 32 hours. “Many countries and businesses that have experimented with a four-day workweek found it to be an overwhelming success as productivity grew and wages increased,” Takano said in his press release. Other countries such as Spain, Japan, New Zealand have a tested the four-day workweek concept.
Today, I introduced legislation to reduce the standard workweek from 40 hours to 32 hours because people are working longer hours while their pay remains stagnant.
At a time when the nature of work is rapidly changing, we must keep up. pic.twitter.com/fuWeIsPGkE
— Mark Takano (@RepMarkTakano) July 27, 2021
If there’s going to be such a drastic change in the work week, there may be certain blemishes that will inevitably arise. This article discusses just a few ways that employees should be informed to not be taken advantage of by employers trying to institute this new work week.
Wage and Hour Issues
Despite decreasing the number of work week days from 5 to 4, employees are still entitled to overtime if they work over eight hours per day or 40 hours per week in California. This is regardless of the number of days that they actually work during the week. Employers may be trying to pressure in place to work longer hours and they’re working shorter days during the week, however this is improper. If the employee is going to work over eight hours per day, then they are going to be at one my bad times their hourly rate for all time work after the eighth hour.
There are also other way generations, such as sick leave, paid time off, or vacation plans that could be affected through a four-day work week. In California, Employers may provide basically through an accrual method. I thought they were required likely decrease the chances of an employee accruing enough hours of sick pay leave prior to when the employee starts becoming eligible.
Discrimination Issues
There may be issues when I comes to a persons disability. Perhaps a person will not be able to accomplish the same productivity level and 32 hours a week instead of 40 hours per week if they experience a physical or mental disability. Also, under the Family Medical Leave Act, These four-day workweeks may lead to retaliation. There may be other sick leave request or other leaves of absence that will become more noticeable to the supervisors, which may lead to stricter standards regarding leave. If the supervisor or manager just had a proper training, they could retaliate against his employees unfairly.
Conclusion
If you’re working for a place that is considering a four day work week, can you believe that you’re being a treated unfairly, you may want to consider talking to an attorney about your legal options. Contact us today.
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