Who invented working hours

Usually, RescueTime records me doing between 20 and 30 hours of computer work per week. Admittedly not all my work takes place in front of a computer, but enough of it does for this to be a helpful metric. It turned out that no one was regularly working eight-hour days. Everybody was more in the five- to six-hour range. And until we shared that with each other, everybody was secretly feeling guilty and lazy about it. Many of us in that group are freelancers who work from home.

Forty hours of availability, sure. Forty hours of office presence, probably. Forty hours of thinking about work—at least, and likely more. After engaging in deep work, you feel satisfied and proud.

I'm not even saying you should never waste time on social media. The rise in contract workers, such as Uber drivers, or those who work temporary positions for companies means that many U. Check out how forgoing vacation time can derail your career. Skip Navigation.

Jennifer Liu. A group of factory workers pictured circa It is high time to rid ourselves of the notion that leisure for workmen is either lost time or a class privilege.

Portrait of group of workers in a cotton mill in Indianapolis, Indiana circa Workers operating sewing machines circa In that light, the eight-hour work day makes sense.

Work Has Changed By and large, the eight-hour work day was created to protect workers who held jobs brought about by the industrial revolution. But as they say, actions speak louder than words. Here are three ways you can do that: Flexible Scheduling Once you agree with the notion that the 8-hour work day is an outdated idea, you may want to start allowing your employees to work when they want to work within reason.

Summer Hours Thanks to graduations, weddings, and vacations, business slows down in the summer for many organizations. Team-Building Days The closer your employees are to each other, the more productive your team will be. Get Our Most Helpful Resources. September 3, Congress passed the Adamson Act , a federal law that established an eight-hour workday for interstate railroad workers.

The Supreme Court constitutionalized the act in September 25, Ford Motor Companies adopted a five-day, hour workweek. June 25, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act , which limited the workweek to 44 hours. Despite the long work it took to make the hour workweek a reality, research shows people do continue to log longer work hours. In a survey by tax and professional services firm EY, half of managers around the world reported logging more than 40 hours a week.

Presumably, some of that time is spent at home answering emails, instead of at the office. Meanwhile, there's evidence that some Americans see working around the clock as a kind of status symbol. While many people claim to be working or hour workweeks, much of that time isn't very productive. In fields like finance and consulting, some workers may only be pretending to work hour weeks, a recent study suggests. In general, research suggests that we can handle working hour weeks for three weeks — after that, we become less productive.

For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options.