Early in the 2022 Legislative Session, Assembly Bill (AB) 2932 was introduced and was known as the four-day workweek bill.  It sought to change when an employee would be paid one and one-half times their regular rate of pay by redefining the workweek.

Under current California law, overtime may be earned at one- and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay for: (1) any work in excess of 8 hours in a workday; (2) any work in excess of 40 hours in any one workweek; and (3) the first 8 hours worked on the 7^th day of work. In addition, all hours worked in excess of 12 hours in any workday and for all hours worked in excess of eight on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek are paid at double the regular rate of pay.

AB 2932 proposed that employees would be paid one- and one-half times their regular rate of pay for work in excess of 32 hours in a workweek instead of 40 hours. The bill would have allowed employers with less than 500 employees to continue paying overtime rates after 40 hours in a workweek.

AB 2932 received lots of attention for the drastic change from both California and federal law as to when overtime accrues. However, the bill is now on hold as it failed to meet committee deadlines for consideration.

While the bill won’t proceed this year, employers should watch as it could be amended or reintroduced in 2023.