Massachusetts lawmakers are considering a new bill that would offer incentives to companies that transition to a four-day workweek. The bill would allocate financial tax credits to businesses that shift at least 15 employees to 32 hours and report the impact on morale and productivity for two years. This new initiative is intended to help employers gain an edge with the tight labor market, increase morale, and help reduce absenteeism and commuting time.
Reps. Dylan Fernandes and Josh Cutler are the ones leading this movement as a means of providing necessary leisure time for workers. Dylan Fernandes stated that there have been massive technological improvements since the 40 hour work week came into play, and yet many Americans still find themselves working equal amounts, if not more. This initiative would create a path to a better work-life balance while still producing the same level of productivity.
A similar bill was pulled from consideration in Maryland earlier this year. Delegate Vaughn Stewart said that it was because companies noted that support and assistance form the government would be more helpful than tax credits. To that end, six analysis conducted between 2019-2020 in the UK saw a vast improvement in productivity, morale and stress levels with the new four-day workweek. This research helped fuel this new initiative in Massachusetts and similarly in Maryland.
This new bill brings forth a unique opportunity for businesses looking to expand the use of their resources and acquire the edge in the labor market. It will be interesting to observe the outcome of this bill and to learn the effects of this new initiative once it comes into full effect.
The company mentioned in the article is Pinsent Masons, which is a large-scale legal and consulting company based in the United Kingdom. This company took part in the 2019-20 analysis that eventually led to the UK making the switch to a four-day workweek. This allowed companies to gain new insights and learn the effects of the new structure in comparison to the traditional five-day.
The people mentioned in the article are representatives Dylan Fernandes and Josh Cutler. Both of them are well known leads in Massachusetts supporting what would be the first legislation of its kind. Dylan believes the pandemic has showed that the scale of work we do nowadays is more time consuming than necessary and the four-day workweek will provide the opportunity to gain better quality of life. Josh Cutler is emphasizing the idea of creating new incentives to boost worker satisfaction and productivity, ultimately guiding the economy to new heights with the help of this proposal.
