Resource Roundup
Workplace Flexibility and New Strategies for Expanding Labor Rights
Maxwell Johnson
Senior Research Associate
As summer comes to a close, final vacations are squeezed in, and we prepare for a return to the routines of cooler months to come, we at the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program are taking a moment to reflect on one of the most valuable benefits employers can give their employees: time — time for loved ones, time for rest, time for living a full life outside the workplace.
Recognizing the importance of time for its workforce, the government of San Juan County, Washington, recently took the pioneering step of instituting a 32-hour workweek. The Seattle Times captured what the change has meant for employees and the challenges that arise when breaking from the 40-hour workweek status quo.
This edition also features a new publication from the Economic Policy Institute about the importance of robust benefits that support flexibility for low-wage workers. In addition, explore U.S. Department of Labor research on the mutual benefits that worker voice brings for businesses and employees.
We conclude with reporting from Labor Notes and OnLabor on the future of organizing in the industrial South and on the role states may play in strengthening workers rights, especially as the Supreme Court reduces the number of federal tools available for protecting workers.
The Seattle Times
What a 32-hour workweek looks like in San Juan County
The 40-hour workweek has governed Americans’ lives for nearly a century. However, evidence from abroad has shown that reducing the length of the workweek increases the productivity, job satisfaction, and wellbeing of employees. In 2023, San Juan County, Washington, became one of the first local governments in the US to shorten the workweek to 32 hours for most employees.
County officials have found that workforce retention has increased and vacancies are filling faster since the change. Nearly four in five employees surveyed by the county reported improved mental health. That said, San Juan County’s innovative shift has not been without its challenges, especially for resident-facing government operations.
Read the Seattle Times’ reporting for more on the first months of San Juan County’s 32-hour workweek rollout.
Economic Policy Institute
Flexible work: What workers, especially low-wage workers, really want and how best to provide it
US labor law too often fails to give workers the flexibility they need for family, health, and other responsibilities in life. This is exemplified by the absence of federally guaranteed paid leave, which puts the US at odds with most industrialized democracies.
A new report from EPI spotlights the importance of policies that support flexibility for workers, especially those in the gig economy. Companies that depend on gig labor often tout the flexible scheduling they offer workers. But the reality is different. Algorithmic management practices exert significant pressure on labor, and the frequent misclassification of employees as independent contractors further deprives workers of basic protections, like overtime pay, workers’ compensation, and the right to organize.
Explore EPI’s full report to understand the state of flexible work and what can be done to ensure employees’ rights are prioritized.
U.S. Department of Labor
Worker voice is the foundation of healthy, productive, and engaging workplaces.
A new report from the U.S. Department of Labor highlights effective forms of worker voice, giving particular attention to industries with nonstandard work arrangements and fewer labor protections. The report provides case studies of strategies from the US and abroad to increase worker voice and power in agriculture and domestic work, featuring, among others, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
Learn more about these organizations’ work and about the merits of various forms of effective worker voice, including unions and collective bargaining, in this important research.
Labor Notes
New ‘Battery Belt’ Opens Organizing Front in the South
The future of American auto manufacturing may well be the South.
Federal economic development policies intended to spur a clean energy economy have led to groundbreakings for billions of dollars’ worth of factories in the region, whose production lines span the automotive supply chain.
Labor organizers know that a manufacturing job isn’t always a good job, especially in many southern states with weak worker protections and low minimum wages. Despite the South’s low union density, organizers believe that an approach focused on building worker power at key junctures in the supply chain might offer a promising strategy for improving job quality across the industry.
Read organizer Ben Carroll’s article in Labor Notes for more on the future of organizing in the South.
Labor Notes
Picking up the Slack on Worker Rights: A New State Strategy
Recent rulings by the Supreme Court that limit executive agency powers may affect the federal government’s ability to uphold workers’ rights, but states can still take action to raise the wage floor and protect workers, write Sharon Block and Rajesh Nayak. More than half the states have raised their minimum wages above the federal rate, and several have responded to the climate crisis by instituting heat protections for workers.
Learn more from Block and Nayak, in OnLabor, about how states are stepping in to support workers.
Join our mailing list.
To receive occasional emails about our work — including new publications, commentary, events, fellowships, and more — join our mailing list.
Connect on social media.
For news and updates every day, connect with us on the social media platform of your choice.
About the Resource Roundup
The Economic Opportunities Program’s Resource Roundup newsletter is an editorial take on the latest articles and reports that shape our thinking on economic opportunity. Click here to subscribe.
About the Economic Opportunities Program
The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy.
