The four-day work week bill in Congress, formally the Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act, would lower the federal overtime threshold from 40 hours a week to 32, meaning employers would owe time-and-a-half for any hour past the fourth day of an eight-hour schedule. It does not order anyone to work fewer hours, and it does not allow employers to cut pay to offset the change. Introduced as H.R. 1332 and S. 3947 in the 118th Congress, both versions were referred to committee and never received a vote.1Congress.gov. H.R.1332 – Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act2Congress.gov. S.3947 – Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act
What the Bill Would Actually Do
The Fair Labor Standards Act currently requires time-and-a-half pay for every hour a non-exempt employee works beyond 40 in a week.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 207 – Maximum Hours The bill amends that section, 29 U.S.C. § 207, by replacing 40 with 32.4Congress.gov. S.3947 – Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act Nothing in the bill prohibits scheduling a 45-hour week. It changes the price of doing so. The old 40-hour schedule becomes roughly 12 percent more expensive in labor costs for the same worker, which is the lever meant to push employers toward shorter weeks.
New Daily Overtime Rules
The Senate version adds something the current FLSA does not have at all: daily overtime. Any work past eight hours in a day would trigger time-and-a-half, and any work past 12 hours in a day would trigger double the regular rate.5United States Senate. Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act A few states already have daily overtime; federal law does not.
This matters most for compressed schedules. Four 10-hour shifts currently generate no federal overtime because the weekly total is 40. Under the bill, each of those shifts would generate two hours of daily overtime, plus weekly overtime once the 32-hour line is crossed.
Your Pay and Benefits Could Not Be Cut
The most immediate concern for any worker looking at a shorter week is whether the paycheck shrinks with it. The Senate text prohibits employers from reducing an employee’s total weekly compensation, regular pay rate, or any other benefit as a result of the new threshold taking effect.4Congress.gov. S.3947 – Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act Someone earning $1,000 a week for 40 hours would need to keep earning at least $1,000 for 32 hours.
The protection extends past base pay. Health insurance, retirement contributions, and paid leave cannot be trimmed as a workaround.4Congress.gov. S.3947 – Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act The statutory prohibition is clear on paper; enforcement in practice would depend on the same tools workers already use for wage claims.
Who Would Be Covered
Only non-exempt employees under the FLSA. Those are the workers who already qualify for overtime, generally because they earn under the salary threshold for the white-collar exemption or because their duties do not meet the executive, administrative, or professional tests. The current salary threshold is $684 per week, or $35,568 annually.6U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Employee Exemptions
If you are a salaried exempt employee, the bill would not change your hours or pay directly. Nothing in the text modifies the exemption tests or the salary threshold.7United States Senate. Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act Fact Sheet Exempt staff could still be asked to work 50 or 60 hours with no overtime, though retention pressure at companies moving non-exempt workers to four-day schedules is a separate question.
When It Would Take Effect
The threshold would not drop from 40 to 32 in one step. The House version phases the change in over three years.1Congress.gov. H.R.1332 – Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act The Senate version stretches the phase-in to four years.7United States Senate. Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act Fact Sheet The weekly cap steps down in stages so employers can adjust budgets and staffing across multiple fiscal years, particularly in industries like manufacturing, healthcare, and food service that rely on predictable shift structures.
How It Would Be Enforced
The bill creates no new enforcement machinery. It rides on the existing FLSA penalty structure. An employer that fails to pay required overtime is liable for the unpaid wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, and courts must award reasonable attorney’s fees. The Department of Labor can supervise back-wage payment or sue on behalf of workers directly.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 216 – Penalties Because the bill only changes the number of hours in one subsection, every existing audit, complaint, and litigation route would apply the moment the new threshold took effect.
State Four-Day Workweek Bills
Several states have introduced their own versions, with mixed approaches and no enactments so far.
California’s Assembly Bill 2932, from the 2021–2022 session, would have required overtime after 32 hours for employers with more than 500 employees, with no reduction in weekly pay. It did not clear committee.9California Legislative Information. Assembly Bill 2932 – Workweek: Hours and Overtime
Pennsylvania’s House Bill 1065 skipped the mandate and offered tax credits to businesses that voluntarily shifted to a four-day schedule. It was referred to committee in April 2023 and has not moved since.10Pennsylvania General Assembly. House Bill 1065
New York has two active bills. S5629 would define a legal workweek as 32 hours for most employees statewide and remains in the Senate Labor Committee as of early 2026.11New York State Senate. Senate Bill S5629 S9443 covers only state government employees, directing agencies to identify positions suited to a four-day schedule and implement the change by 2029, with no cut in pay or benefits below 36 hours per week.12New York State Senate. Senate Bill S9443 The government-only design carries no cost to private employers, which may improve its odds.
Where Things Stand Now
The federal bill has not passed either chamber. H.R. 1332 was referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in March 2023 and never got a hearing.1Congress.gov. H.R.1332 – Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act S. 3947 was referred to the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in March 2024 and met the same fate.2Congress.gov. S.3947 – Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act Neither bill has been reintroduced in the current Congress as of early 2026.
State bills have followed the same pattern of introduction, referral, and inaction, with New York’s state-employee pilot as the outlier because it has a defined implementation date. For now, a four-day workweek exists nowhere in U.S. law as a requirement. If you want one, individual employer policy is the only realistic route.