Is a 32-hour workweek a good or bad idea? That depends on who you ask.

The feasibility of it was debated and discussed during the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). Chaired by Senator Bernie Sanders,I -Vt. on 

March 14.  Sanders began by saying, “It’s an issue that hasn’t  been addressed at the federal level since 1940, when Congress amended the Fair Labor Standards Act, thereby limiting the standard work week from 44 to 40 hours.” He added, “One of the issues we’ve got to talk about is stressin this country; so many people are going to work exhausted physically and mentally. To suggest we have to maintain what we put in place 84 years ago( (defining the workweek) does not make a lot of sense. It’s not a radical idea. He pointed to France’s 35-hour workweek and its consideration of reducing it to 32 hours, as well Denmark’s and Norway’s adoption of a 37-hour workweek.

 The day before the hearing, SandersI Introduced a companion bill to enact a 32-hour-workweek with no loss in pay to Rep. Mark Takano’s, D_Calif., Thirty-two Hour Workweek Act, which would reduce the standard workweek from 40 to 32 hours by again amending  the Fair Labor Standards Act.

As I understand it, Takano’s bill amends  the definition of  the workweek in federal law. However, it does not make any changes or limit the number of hours that an employee may work in a standard workweek. His proposed legislation also would lower the maximum hours threshold for overtime compensation for nonexempt employees.

  However, Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La,, the ranking HELP committee member, “called the 32-hour workweek a bad policy. Shortening the workweek, he predicted, will hurt productivity, which could result in the U.S. losing its status as the world’s wealthiest  nation and potentially lead to offshoring of American jobs.” He also said, “Government  should not be in the business of undermining an employer’s ability to keep their doors open.”

In my view, Senator Sanders is facing an uphill battle trying to get his 32-hour workweek bill passed in the Senate. As for the House, it is probably dead on arrival.

Retired Army Colonel Thomas B. Vaughn may be reached at tbvbwmi@benlomand.net