MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – There’s a push in the Vermont Legislature for a shorter work week.
What would it take to increase the productivity and the mental well-being of Vermont’s workforce? At least one lawmaker in the state Legislature says a 32-hour work week could be the answer.
Rep. Monique Priestley, D-Bradford, is thinking about the American work week in a post-pandemic world. “People are trying to reassess their values and how they are spending their time as their most critical resource,” Priestley said.
She has introduced a bill setting Vermont’s work week for full and part-time employees at 32 hours. That’s four, eight-hour days, or five 6.5-hour days.
“A scheduling nightmare, I think, but from a mental health perspective we have so many people dealing with burnout, especially coming out of the pandemic and remote work,” said Rhonda Oaxaca, a Barre resident.
The idea is modeled on research from Europe showing increased productivity and reduced burnout.
J. Peterson of Washington says he used to work in a private school out of state where they had three-day weekends. “It was a harder four days but it opened up for a lot of extra life to happen in the three days off,” he said.
But the proposal may not work for all professions, including first responders, and it could lead to higher labor costs for businesses or lower-income hourly workers. “I question how do we protect those that are already struggling to get hours they need in a 40 hour work week limitation if companies are already holding that at bay, are we now dropping the number there to where companies are hiring even more people at even lower hours,” Peterson said.
Similar proposals have been floated in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, Missouri, and on the federal level. Ultimately, Rep. Priestley says this bill is a jumping-off point for a larger discussion about Vermonter’s work-life balance.
