4-Day Work Week Being Proposed By Philadelphia State Rep

PHILADELPHIA — "For the times they are a-changin'."

That's essentially the thought process of State Rep. G. Roni Green (D-Philadelphia), who is planning to introduce legislation reducing the work week in Pennsylvania.

Green said she will propose legislation that would require businesses with more than 500 employees to reduce the work week from 40 hours to 32, without a reduction in pay.

"The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 established the standard 40-hour workweek," she wrote in a memo to her colleagues in Harrisburg. "Today, most workers continue to work a standard 40-hour workweek, but society today looks and operates differently than it once did in 1938."

Green cited technological advancements' role increasing productivity of workers.

"Research has shown that companies may be able to adopt a four-day workweek without losing worker productivity," she said.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, productivity increased nearly 65 percent from 1979 to 2021, while wages increased just over 17 percent in that period.

This legislation would exclude local and mid-size businesses from the requirement, allowing those companies to continue to work a 40-hour workweek.

"Workers deserve to have a weekly schedule that respects a balance of work and personal responsibilities," she wrote. "A four-day workweek would provide hardworking individuals with more time for rest, family obligations, and focus on both physical and mental health. Rested, happy and healthy workers in turn can better focus on work and accomplish more in a workday."