
Greg Volynsky is a student at Harvard Law School.
In Today’s News & Commentary, an experiment with a four-day workweek begins in Germany.
On Thursday, a New Zealand-based nonprofit began its experiment with a four-day workweek in Germany. The nonprofit, 4 Day Week Global, has previously piloted a four-day workweek with 33 companies in the United States and Ireland, declaring the project a “huge success.” Forty-five companies in Germany are taking part in the six-month program, which started on February 1.
The pilot comes amid a twofold labor crisis in Germany: labor shortage and inflation. The job-vacancy rate is high, while unemployment is low. Employees across industries are seeking higher wages and planning strikes, including the national construction union, which represents 930,000 workers and is seeking a 20 percent pay increase. And, as Bloomberg reports, the problem is likely to get worse, as falling birth and immigration rates are expected to further shrink the workforce.
The four-day workweek has been hailed by some as one path forward. Proponents argue that the shorter workweek will reduce burnout and increase productivity, upholding steady economic output, and attracting workers from around the world. The nonprofit 4 Day Week Global claims that all companies that participated in their initial pilot plan to continue with a four-day workweek.
Writing in 2010, Robert Bird of the University of Connecticut argued that the four-day workweek is neither novel nor beneficial. Bird surveys evidence from the 1970s, when many claimed that the four-day workweek “has arrived,” and concludes that the four-day workweek boosts employee morale only temporarily. Only about half of studies from the period found that the shortened workweek had a positive economic impact, as measured by productivity and absenteeism. The compressed workweek creates longer workdays and increases pressure on shift workers, leading one-third of firms that adopted the compressed workweek to revert back shortly.
Utah adopted a four-day, ten-hour-per-day workweek in 2008; in 2011, Utah retreated to a five-day workweek, after an audit found that the change failed to achieve lawmakers’ objectives and residents complained about lack of services on Friday.
Could this time be different? Bill Gates thinks so.
Daily News & Commentary
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October 22
Broadway actors and producers reach a tentative labor agreement; workers at four major concert venues in Washington D.C. launch efforts to unionize; and Walmart pauses offers to job candidates requiring H-1B visas.
October 21
Some workers are exempt from Trump’s new $100,000 H1-B visa fee; Amazon driver alleges the EEOC violated mandate by dropping a disparate-impact investigation; Eighth Circuit revived bank employee’s First Amendment retaliation claims over school mask-mandate.
October 20
Supreme Court won't review SpaceX decision, courts uphold worker-friendly interpretation of EFAA, EEOC focuses on opioid-related discrimination.
October 19
DOL issues a new wage rule for H-2A workers, Gov. Newsom vetoes a bill that regulates employers’ use of AI, and Broadway workers and management reach a tentative deal
October 17
Third Circuit denies DOL's en banc rehearing request; Washington AG proposes legislation to protect immigrant workers; UAW files suit challenging government surveillance of non-citizen speech
October 16
NLRB seeks injunction of California’s law; Judge grants temporary restraining order stopping shutdown-related RIFs; and Governor Newsom vetoes an ILWU supported bill.