Word: workweeks
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...when most of us seem to be working more hours than ever (provided we're still lucky enough to have jobs), 17,000 people in Utah have embarked on an unusual experiment. A year ago, the Beehive State became the first in the U.S. to mandate a four-day workweek for most state employees, closing offices on Fridays in an effort to reduce energy costs. The move is different from a furlough in that salaries were not cut; nor was the total amount of time employees work. They pack in 40 hours by starting earlier and staying later four days...
...marketing standpoint, having encouraged dealers to accept qualifying trade-ins nearly two weeks before the U.S. Department of Transportation launched its official cash-for-clunkers website. The payoff is already filtering through to workers. "Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama is now increasing production by returning to a five-day workweek in July after being on a shortened workweek since mid-October," said Dave Zuchowski, vice president of national sales. (See the 50 worst cars of all time...
...struck down a Washington, D.C., minimum-wage law, finding it impeded a worker's right to set his own price for his labor. The first federal minimum-wage law, the Fair Labor Standards Act, passed in 1938, with a 25-cent-per-hour wage floor and a 44-hour workweek ceiling for most employees. (It also banned child labor.) Outside of Social Security, said Roosevelt, the law was "the most far-sighted program for the benefit of workers ever adopted." Wages must ensure a "minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency and general well-being," the act stipulated, "without...
France - or at least parts of it - will soon find out. And how will a society famous for being rabidly protective of its leisure time, long vacations and nominal 35-hour workweek respond? Probably with a Gallic shrug. Polls show 55% of French people oppose the law and 42% support it. Still, 40% of respondents say they'd heed a boss's call to work Sunday if it meant making more money, while another 30% say they'd welcome the chance to shop on Sundays. (See pictures of Bastille Day celebrations...
...number of companies that are slashing paychecks is rising. According to a survey of 245 large U.S. companies by the human-resources consultancy Watson Wyatt, 5% of firms had reduced salaries by December. In February that figure was up to 7%. And the proportion of companies shortening the workweek - a way to cut overall pay for hourly employees - jumped to 13%, from 2%. "Six months ago, all the questions I got were about severance," says Steve Gross, who runs the employee-compensation consulting group for the HR outfit Mercer. "Now - including twice today - I'm getting questions from companies saying...