Overview
- Lawmakers have introduced a proposal to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act that would phase the overtime trigger down from 40 hours to 32 hours over four years, stepping the threshold to 38, 36, 34 and then 32 hours.
- The bill would add daily overtime rules so covered workers receive time-and-a-half after eight hours in a day and double pay after 12 hours.
- Employers could still require longer shifts, but doing so would become more costly and the measure bars cuts to a worker’s weekly pay or benefits simply because the standard workweek is shortened.
- The change would keep existing exemptions for some executive, administrative and professional employees and would not force a four-day week or specific schedules, leaving firms flexibility in how they arrange 32 hours.
- Supporters point to rising productivity and trials abroad—including a UK experiment that found large drops in sick days and turnover—while critics warn higher labor costs could push firms to raise prices, hire less or relocate jobs, and the proposal now faces debate in Congress.