The 75th anniversary of the 40 hour workweek is not a time for celebration, but for action. Specifically, it's time for Americans to fight for more time off.
That's according to Take Back Your Time, a national advocacy group that focuses on expanding workers' rights to leisure time. The group points out that while productivity has skyrocketed in the seven decades since the 40 hour workweek was enshrined in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), there has been no corresponding decrease in workload for workers.
While most other industrialized countries shortened their standard workweeks in the decades following World War II and mandated several weeks of paid vacation, Americans are puzzlingly resistant to taking time off, the group says.
Recommended For You
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
