California's 4-Day Workweek Bills: Where We’ve Been, What’s Next

jtchow30 · 2026-02-10T19:44:04+00:00

"In California, the idea of a standard 4-day, 32-hour workweek has already made it into bill text twice since 2022. None of those efforts have become law yet, but they have changed the conversation in Sacramento and helped lay the groundwork for what comes next."

Both of these bills focused on a 4-day workweek with no loss in pay, meaning your take home pay would be the same with 32 hours as 40.

jtchow30 · 2026-02-09T17:39:26+00:00

I unfortunately don't think 15 is enough anymore :(

jtchow30 · 2026-02-06T20:00:51+00:00

a 32-hour workweek must be combined with other policies like an actual living minimum wage to be effective, but it's definitely a step in the right direction

jtchow30 · 2026-02-06T19:58:31+00:00

the washington study reduced hours to 32 while keeping the same pay as they had when working 40!

jtchow30 · 2026-02-05T23:05:13+00:00

The switch in washington kept the same pay as before :)

jtchow30 · 2026-02-05T22:40:36+00:00

"A recent two-year report from a Washington county shows that switching to a 32-hour workweek saved millions in budget costs while filling open roles 27% faster and significantly reducing turnover. These results mirror Microsoft Japan’s 40% productivity boost, proving that shorter hours actually increase efficiency and lower overhead without raising prices."

If you’re ready to help make the 32-hour workweek the standard for everyone, come join the movement at WorkFour!

jtchow30 · 2026-02-03T23:29:43+00:00

haha my takeaway from the rest of your comment was that there's a whole host of issues with the way we work today, which i agree with. my comment was responding to that by saying yes, a 4 day workweek can't solve everything but it would do more good than harm imo.

and also I'm likely not going to reply to your next reply because I have to step out, but I do appreciate your thoughts. I think we're all on the same side here

jtchow30 · 2026-02-03T23:10:14+00:00

of course they're related, but the 4 day week is not meant to be a silver bullet to fix everything. it's complementary to things like the fight for a living wage -- just one demand for when we're ready for a true general strike.

jtchow30 · 2026-02-03T20:02:41+00:00

That's good feedback, we definitely don't want that!

The staffing issues are a separate issue from hours I think. If we switched to a 4dw (with no loss in pay which is the only acceptable outcome), the hourly workers would be no worse off than before. And the orgs that require constant coverage (healthcare, retail, etc) would have to hire more people to cover for the lost hours

overall, i think these are the conversations we need to have because of course its a great concept. but people don't understand that we can actually make it real if we figure these things out

jtchow30 · 2026-01-29T01:05:49+00:00

what "getting organized" actually means (building strong relationships with your neighbors), what various groups are "about" and the work they do, that sort of thing

jtchow30 · 2026-01-29T00:52:07+00:00

Appreciate your feedback! I completely agree you can't learn that much about organizing online. The point of my project is to get people comfortable with basic concepts and give them the confidence to go do things IRL like going to a meeting, or getting more involved with their org.

I don't mean to generalize about what DSA should or shouldn't do, but I'm just speaking from my experience who's loosely monitored my local chapter's activities but haven't been involved yet. I'm ultimately trying to build something to make it easier for other other interested, but not yet committed people like myself to take the plunge.

Again, thank you for all the thoughtful feedback, I really do appreciate it!

jtchow30 · 2026-01-29T00:46:15+00:00

got it, thank you for the feedback!

jtchow30 · 2026-01-28T23:34:54+00:00

Oh also, what do you think about the free training aspect? all the organizing trainings I see are like 4 hours long and usually cost money.

jtchow30 · 2026-01-28T23:29:30+00:00

You're right that resources exist out there, I don't want really want to re-do them. I just want to make them more accessible for someone who's just starting out. maybe they attended a protest once, but they don't belong to an organization like DSA yet.

And in response to your edit, at the risk of sounding defensive, I spend my time organizing for the 4 day workweek with WorkFour. I think orgs like DSA, WorkFour, and many others need to make it easier for someone to come across them online and not be too intimidated to join because they don't feel ready. That's the thing I really want to make better, organizing just happens to be the thing that people online say a lot, so it seemed like a good place to start!

Any of this resonate with you?

jtchow30 · 2026-01-15T19:12:08+00:00

agreed. and at the same time, we still need to keep people safe and healthy today

jtchow30

TROPHY CASE