The calendar at the National League for Nursing office in Washington, D.C. may say Tuesday, but in actuality it’s hump day.

What You Need To Know

  • The bill would standardize a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay

  • The bill was introduced by lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders

  • Some employers believe the 40-hour workweek is outdated

In 2022 the organization implemented a four-day workweek.

Under the new policy employees, if they wanted, only had to work four days a week. One of those could be remote. The required hours dropped from 40 hours a week to 35.

National League for Nursing CEO Dr. Beverly Malone said the five-day workweek, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, had become draining.

The new policy she said is a hit with employees.

“People are happy. They’re pleased. They’re more relaxed. They’re more engaged,” Malone said.

It’s a policy some members of Congress would like more employers to adapt.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is one of the lawmakers who introduced a bill to standardize a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay.

“We were talking about a 40-hour workweek 80 years ago, and that’s what people today, despite the explosion of technology, are working,” Sanders said.

The Ford Motor Company is known as one of the first companies in the U.S. that introduced the 40-hour workweek in the 1920s. In 1940 Congress made it official.

Sanders' bill is unlikely to pass, but perhaps not surprisingly it is a popular idea.

Employers around the world and in the U.S. have implemented shorter workweeks.

Malone said she’s not sold on mandating a shortened workweek but said companies should try their own customized schedule to see how it works. 

“Acknowledging that people have more to life than just work. And that there are different ways of working and productivity doesn’t get cut short,” Malone said.