RALEIGH, N.C. – The notion of a four-day, 32-hour workweek could be one step closer to reality thanks to a bill proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders last week.

What You Need To Know

  • Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders proposed the Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act on Thursday, which would reduce the standard workweek from 40 hours to 32

  • The bill would require employers to keep employee pay and benefits the same

  • According to a study from the University of Cambridge, the four-day week significantly reduces stress and illness in the workforce and helps with worker retention

The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act would reduce the standard workweek from 40 to 32 over the next four years, without a reduction in pay or benefits.

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said Thursday in a hearing, “The fact that so many people are going to work exhausted physically and mentally and the fact that we have not changed the Fair Labor Standards Act. This was in 1940 we came up with a 40-hour workweek, 1940. Who is going to deny that the economy has not fundamentally and radically changed over that period of time?"

A four-day workweek is being considered across the pond in the United Kingdom as well, where the results of a recent report were shared with lawmakers on a long-term study of companies testing a 32-hour workweek.

In a report of the results, about 92% of companies that took part in the U.K. pilot program (56 out of 61) say they intend to continue with the four-day working week, with 18 companies confirming the change as permanent.

Professor Brendan Burchell of the University of Cambridge was one of the researchers taking part in the study.

Burchell told Spectrum News 1 that the companies reported happier workers, lower turnover, increased efficiency and fewer callouts.

“The thing we find in our research is that people can still do the same amount of work. Organizations are just as profitable working in 32 hours as they used to, say, in 40 hours,” he said. “Once people have a reward in front of them that they can have a three-day weekend [or] have an extra day off each week, it's such a big reward. In almost all the cases, they're going to find ways of getting their work done in the time.”

When asked whether the model works for all sectors, Burchell said they have not found an industry it did not work for. However, in some cases, it requires creativity.

“You need to find different solutions with different type of industries. But yeah, I think it could work across the spectrum. I think in a few years time we'll definitely be going towards a four day workweek in many European countries and I hope in the United States, too,” Burchell said.

The initial study included more than 60 organizations for six months, but Burchell says they checked back in after 18 months and found the results have only improved.

“I think there's no reason why most businesses shouldn't be thinking about moving towards this new model,” he said. “It's what we call 100-80-100 model, where there's 100% pay,  80% of the hours, but still achieving 100% of the performance.”

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