Policy Developments

In the last decade, over 100 legislators across 20 states have taken policy action on the four-day workweek. We’ve compiled a list of developments at the federal, state, and local levels for you below.

Federal Policy Developments

Representative Mark Takano (CA-39) introduced the first congressional bill in recent years to advance the four-day workweek: The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act (H.R.1332). The bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act to reduce the standard workweek from 40 hours to 32 hours for non-exempt employees. Employers would be required to pay overtime compensation to non-exempt employees whose work exceeds 32 hours in a standard work week. The bill would allow for a 3-year phase-in.

The bill currently has seven co-sponsors and has been endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), National Employment Law Project (NELP), Economic Policy Institute (EPI), American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Auto Workers (UAW), and United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW).

Senator Bernie Sanders has also endorsed a 32-hour workweek.

State Policy Developments

At the state level, numerous bills have been proposed but none have ultimately passed yet. The legislation broadly falls into two categories:

  1. Legislation that funds or incentivizes state-administered pilot or research programs

  2. Legislation that implements the four-day workweek by lowering the threshold for overtime from 40 to 32 hours, with no reduction in pay.

States that have proposed four-day workweek pilot or research programs:

  • California (Introduced by Assembly Member Evan Low in 2023)

  • Massachusetts (Introduced by Rep. Josh S. Cutler and Rep. Dylan A. Fernandes in 2023)

  • Maryland (introduced by Rep. Vaughn Stewart in 2023)

  • Hawaii (Introduced by Representatives Lee, Gabbard, Keith-Agaran, Misalucha, Shimabukuro, Inouye, and Nishihara in 2022)

States that have proposed implementing the four-day workweek:

These bills often include an exemption for small businesses and would only apply to businesses with a minimum of 500 employees.

  • Washington (Introduced by Rep. Joe Nguyen in 2020)

  • Rhode Island (Introduced by Rep. Karen Alzate in 2023)

  • New York (Introduced. by Assemblyman Ken Burgos In 2021)

  • Pennsylvania (To be introduced by Rep. Roni Green in 2023/2024)

  • New Hampshire (Introduced by Rep. Ellen Read and Rep. Eric Gallager in 2024)

  • Vermont (Introduced by Rep. Monique Priestley in 2024)

State agencies that have provided funding for four-day workweek pilots:

Local Policy Developments

At the local level, governments have mostly focused on shifting their public sector workforce to a four-day workweek. There also have been over 650 school districts in 24 states that have shifted to a four-day workweek, primarily to respond to teacher shortages.

Localities implementing a 4-day, 32-hour workweek for public sector employees: 

Localities implementing a 4-day, 36-hour workweek for public sector employees: 

Localities offering a condensed 40-hour, 4-day workweek for public sector employees: