ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Few employers are asking their employees to work less, but soon they might.
Delegate Vaughn Stewart of Montgomery County is sponsoring a bill to reward employers who allow a 32-hour work week.
It may seem counterintuitive, working less hours, making the same pay and being expected to get the same amount of work done.
"If they have 40 hours to do it, they stretch it out and accomplish it in 40 hours, but if they only have 32 hours to do it they have a little bit more pep in their step and they're a little bit more urgent with their time and they can often times do just as much, if not more in that 32-hour period," said Delegate Stewart.
Stewart is referencing research from four-day Week Global, a group advocating for the reduction in hours.
The research showed employees love the change and the employer's response might shock you.
"What blew my socks off is the employers loved it just as much, so on a scale of one to ten, they rated it on average a nine and they overall saw profits increase by 8% and they saw profits go up as well," said Delegate Stewart.
The "four-day-work-week" phrase has confused some people into thinking it's four 10-hour work days.
"It's not going to be four 10, it has to be a reduction in hours. So it's not about days it's really about hours. It's really about a 32-hour work week more than it is about a four-day work week," said Stewart.
Some businesses might not like the idea of cutting their work week down to 32-hours and that's ok.
The bill makes it voluntary and those businesses wouldn't be eligible for the tax break.
Stewart says he hasn't heard from anyone who's against it.
If the bill passes, the Department of Labor would divide a $750,000 fund among all the businesses who applied in the form of a tax break.
