Revisiting History: The 30-Hour Workweek Proposal That Nearly Transformed the American Workplace

Washington, D.C. — A groundbreaking proposal once floated the idea of a 30-hour workweek across the United States, a significant shift from the traditional 40-hour standard that could have reshaped worker productivity and wellbeing. Introduced during the Great Depression, this innovative concept aimed to combat unemployment by reducing the hours each employed person worked, thereby creating more jobs for the unemployed. Senator Hugo Black of Alabama, who later became a Supreme Court Justice, was a prominent advocate for this change. He championed a bill in 1933 that proposed limiting the workweek to 30 hours in … Read more

Amid Economic Struggles, Greece Implements Controversial Six-Day Workweek Law

ATHENS, Greece — As countries around the globe flirt with the idea of downsizing to a four-day workweek in response to the modern demands for work-life balance, Greece has taken a counterintuitive step. The nation recently implemented a new labor regulation mandating a six-day workweek under certain conditions, a move that has sparked considerable controversy among the workforce and labor unions. Under the new law, which is officially referred to as Law 5053/2023, employees may be required to work up to an additional day while being compensated with a 40% overtime rate. This law was … Read more