Will the Four-Day Workweek Ever Come to the US?

Proponents of the four-day workweek cite a number of arguments in favor of it, many of which they say stand to benefit employers as well as employees.

Improved wellbeing for employees

Trials have found that workers report less stress, anxiety, and burnout, as well as fewer sleep issues, when they work only four days per week.

This has been seen in trials from the following countries:

• The US, Canada, the UK, and Ireland: The nonprofit organization 4 Day Week Global ran pilot studies to test this in 2022–2023. They found that 69% of employees in participating organizations reported less burnout, 59% reported a decline in negative emotions, and 39% felt less anxious.
• Iceland: In 2015–2019, two large-scale trials investigated shorter weeks at a variety of Icelandic workplaces, including offices, preschools, social service centers, and hospitals. Participating employees’ schedules were reduced from 40 hours to 35–36 hours with no reduction in pay. The study found that employees’ stress and burnout decreased significantly and their work–life balance improved.1
• Germany: In a 2023 German pilot, 45 companies tried out four-day workweeks. 90% of participating employees reported a positive impact on their wellbeing. Employees also reported that they experienced an average of 89 fewer minutes of stress and slept 38 minutes more per week.
• New Zealand: In one 18-month pilot study by Unilever between 2020 and 2022, wellbeing also improved among employees on shorter schedules, with their stress dropping by 33%.2

In addition to the sense of wellbeing that many employees reported during these trials, some researchers also noted a decrease in sickness-related absences. This suggests that employees with shorter schedules are happier and healthier, which is also good for the productivity and budgets of their organizations.

Better productivity (and a better bottom line)

Trials suggest that employees are often just as productive when they work four days a week as when they work five—and sometimes even become more so.

For example, in the Icelandic study, there was no reduction in service quality or productivity when workers went from working 40 hours to just 35–36 hours.

In Japan, Microsoft ran a month-long trial of four-day workweeks during 2019 and found that productivity increased by 40%.3

Closer to home, in 2023, San Juan County in Washington State carried out a two-year experiment in which a local government moved many of its public sector employees to a 32-hour week. This saved the county nearly $2 million, suggesting that a shorter workweek could improve the bottom line for both government and private sector organizations.4

In the trials from 4 Day Week Global, companies reported that they enjoyed a 15% increase in revenue, and 57% of employees self-reported that their work ability during the trial improved.5

Reduced sick leave

In the 4 Day Week Global trials, there was a 65% reduction in the number of sick and personal days employees took. In San Juan County’s 32-hour workweek trial, sick leave usage declined by 18%.

This allows workplaces to avoid many hidden costs (e.g., temporary coverage, overtime, and domino effect as other employees get overstretched covering for colleagues).

Attracting and retaining talent

Trials also suggest that organizations with four-day workweeks have an easier time hiring talent and convincing existing employees to stay in their roles.

For example, San Juan County saw a 216% increase in job applications and was able to fill vacancies 27% faster. There was also a 28% decrease in voluntary separations (people quitting or retiring).4

As before, similar benefits were also found in the 4 Day Week Global trials.

Environmental benefits

Unless employees are working remotely, they have to commute to and from their offices, usually by car, leading to large amounts of carbon emissions. By cutting down on commute time and the other costs of in-person office time, a four-day workweek can yield environmental perks, too.

In Japan’s Microsoft trial, the company said that the number of pages they printed decreased by 58.7%, while monthly electricity consumption dropped by 23.1%.

Similarly, in València, Spain, the entire city carried out a month-long four-day workweek trial. It brought about a 58% reduction in nitrous oxide (a chemical that damages the environment) in the city’s air.6

In the UK, a 2020 study from the think tank Autonomy found that the annual impact from implementing a four-day workweek would be equivalent to removing over 1.3 million cars from the road.7

A 2021 report by the 4 Day Week Campaign found that adopting a four-day workweek could reduce the UK’s carbon footprint by over 20%.89

Opponents of the four-day workweek cite various arguments against it.

• Unworkability for many non-white-collar jobs: In many offices, it’s possible for employees to work faster to complete the same amount of work in a shorter time. However, this isn’t realistic for all industries. Some types of workers can’t speed up their output (e.g., a delivery driver can’t just drive faster, and doctors and nurses can’t speed up patient treatment and recovery).
• Higher costs for 24/7 industries: In some industries, workers need to provide 24-hour services. For example, emergency services and power plants can’t stop running. They’ll need to hire more staff if they give everyone an extra 8 hours off, meaning additional costs.
• Incompatibility with clients’ schedules: For service-based firms, if their clients are still working a standard five-day week, it might cause problems if employees are unavailable on certain days—potentially leading to frustrated customers.
• Increased stress: Although many argue that four-day workweeks reduce stress (and many trials also support this), some believe that a shorter week could be more stressful for workers. The reasoning is that, if workers are forced to cram five days of deadlines into four days, people will have to work more frantically with less time to take breaks and chat during the day.

Some lawmakers in the US have begun to push for a legally mandated four-day workweek at the federal level. In 2024, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act (S.3947), which proposed changing the standard federal workweek from 40 to 32 hours.10

Several states are also debating proposals to make four-day workweeks the new norm.

Washington State

In 2020, Senator Joe Nguyen sought to change the legal definition of a standard workweek in Washington from 40 to 32 hours, with any hours over that to be paid overtime at 1.5 times the normal rate. However, Nguyen’s bill didn’t pass.11

In January 2026, state representatives came back with a similar bill. Officially known as House Bill 2611 (HB 2611), it also proposed a 32-hour workweek (with certain corresponding changes to sick leave policy). Despite having support from several labor organizations, it also failed to pass, although it got further than the 2020 attempt.1213

Although the bill has stalled, the targeted implementation date is in 2028, so there’s a good chance that the sponsors will be back in 2027 to continue building their case.

California

In 2022, two members of the California State Assembly, Cristina Garcia and Evan Low, introduced a bill to mandate 32-hour workweeks for any private employer in California with more than 500 employees. However, the bill (Assembly Bill 2932) was heavily opposed by the California Chamber of Commerce, and it was shelved in May 2022.1415

In 2023, Evan Low came back with a 32-hour Workweek Pilot Program in the form of Assembly Bill 1100. This was a voluntary program offering state grants to employers with five or more employees who agreed to trial shorter weeks without reducing pay for 12 months.

Even though the bill went through many revisions, it died on January 31, 2024, after its final hearing was canceled.1617

Massachusetts

Massachusetts has been a primary battleground for the four-day workweek, with several important bills focused on the issue.

House Bill 3849

Advocates for shorter workweeks in Massachusetts have proposed a voluntary model, meaning businesses will be incentivized rather than mandated to shorten their hours.

The earliest piece of legislation like this was Bill H.3849. Introduced in 2023 by state representatives Josh Cutler and Dylan Fernandes, it proposed using tax credits to incentivize private-sector employers to join a two-year pilot program trialing a 32-hour workweek.

H.3849 failed to pass the first time around, but that wasn’t the end of the story.18

Senate Bill 1330

Dylan Fernandes successfully ran for the state Senate and assumed office on January 1, 2025. This meant the four-day workweek now had a champion in the Senate.

Subsequently, in 2025, Fernandes introduced Senate Bill 1330 (S.1330). Again, it offered tax credits to incentivize private companies to try out four-day workweeks (with no reduction in pay).19 Its status in the state Senate is still unresolved.

House Bill 2065

Meanwhile, in the House of Representatives, a new sponsor, Shirley Arriaga, took up the reins for the Massachusetts Smart Work Week Pilot Program in 2026.

Arriaga introduced House Bill 2065 (H.2065). Yet again, it proposed the use of tax credits to incentivize private employers to join a two-year trial of 32-hour, four-day workweeks.20 It also has not been voted on yet, and its status remains unresolved.

House Bill 2181

State representatives have also been trying to pass House Bill 2181 (H.2181), which is more radical than Arriaga’s. It mandates four-day workweeks for everyone, instead of inviting employers to (optionally) trial shorter weeks.21

Lawmakers have paused H.2181’s progress until 2027. It’s likely that the state will wait to see how well Arriaga’s pilot program works before considering mandatory or statewide proposals.22

Outside the US, the four-day workweek has enjoyed some positive press as a result of other countries’ successful trials.

In New Zealand, Unilever decided to retain the four-day workweek instead of returning to a five-day schedule in the wake of its trial. Previously, in 2018, another New Zealand company, Perpetual Guardian, also ran a four-day workweek trial and decided to make it permanent after finding that there were “no downsides” to the shortened schedule.2324

In the UK, of the 61 organizations that joined the pilot for the 4 Day Week Global trials (for six months in 2022), 54 (89%) were still operating the policy a year later. 31 (51%) made the change permanent.25726

Meanwhile, all 41 US and Canadian companies who participated in the 4 Day Week Global trials planned to continue with four-day workweeks instead of returning to their old schedules.

Impact of the 2026 energy crisis

A number of countries are facing severe fuel shortages and supply chain disruptions resulting from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the outbreak of the 2026 Iran War. This has prompted several to adopt a four-day week as a measure to save energy.

Currently, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have a four-day workweek for some public and private sector organizations. The Philippines has also adopted a four-day workweek for parts of the public sector.

These changes will likely be rolled back when the Strait of Hormuz reopens. However, if the schedule works in those countries without disrupting productivity, it gives supporters of the four-day week another argument as to why their project is viable.

On the political side, the 32-hour workweek campaign seems to have had a disappointing year so far in the US, at least on paper. However, the long-term outlook could be much more optimistic than it appears at first glance.

The official report on the San Juan County 32-hour trial was released in December 2025. Four-day proponents can now point to concrete data demonstrating its success to counter the idea that shorter weeks are unworkable.

Meanwhile, other countries are experimenting with the four-day workweek, and so far, many have yielded positive outcomes. If this continues, it will fuel support for shorter workweeks in the US.

A new playbook for the US

Evidence from four-day workweek trials suggests that, if organizations can be convinced to try out a condensed workweek, there’s a good chance that many will be happy with the results (although, as we’ve seen, this model won’t necessarily be suitable for every type of organization and employee).

Accordingly, some supporters of the idea are changing their approach to get US bills passed in state legislatures across the country, advocating for pilot programs—instead of immediate mandates to slash working hours—that could demonstrate the potential gains for companies who are willing to get involved.

For supporters of the four-day workweek campaign, the challenge is to show businesses that their idea represents a win–win and not a risk. If they can succeed at this, then the five-day, 40-hour workweek might one day seem as outdated as the 10-hour days and six-day weeks of the 1890s.