Bill would cut standard workweek to 32 hours, add overtime pay.
S. 5384 — Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act · Filed by Bernie Sanders (I-VT) · Introduced Sep 14, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill changes the federal standard workweek from 40 hours to 32 hours. Some workers get a three-year phase-in. Other workers get the 32-hour rule right away. Workers earn time-and-a-half for hours 32 to 40 each week. Workers earn extra pay for hours 8 to 12 in a day. Workers earn double pay for hours over 12 per day. Employers cannot cut workers' total pay or benefits when overtime rules start.
Who it affects
Workers would earn more money for overtime hours. Employers would pay more in overtime costs. Labor unions would gain power in pay talks.
One thing to notice
The bill does not say which workers get the three-year phase-in. The bill does not explain how its daily overtime rules work with state laws.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Sep 14, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 14, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- standard workweek — The number of hours a worker normally works in one week before overtime pay starts.
- overtime pay — Extra money paid when a worker works more hours than the standard workweek allows.
- time-and-a-half — Pay equal to 1.5 times the worker's normal hourly rate.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,598 characters) on Sep 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,522 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-22.
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