The California Experience

On December 19, 2008, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered California state workers to take 1 day per month as an unpaid furlough, beginning in February 2009. That has grown to 3 days per month at December 19, 2010, roughly a 15% decrease in pay and working hours. The California Supreme Court ruled on October 4, 2010 that the governor may not order furloughs and pay cuts for state employees, but these decisions require the legislature to act. A few days later, the California legislature passed the budget with an $896 million cut in pay for state workers and with furloughs.

Some workers covered by collective bargaining contracts have their pay reduced under different terms. Different agencies and departments use different approaches. Some agencies simply shut down three days per month. Others schedule individual workers' furloughs for different days. Sonoma State University told instructors to

The French Experience

Chart by G. Trumbull (2001)

The govt of France wanted to reduce unemployment. They reduced the standard legal workweek from 39 hours to 35 hours. The change occurred on January 1, 2000. The new law provided significant disincentives for overtime work. Working under the old 39-hour standard, 8 workers would account for 312 hours of work per week. Under the new 35-hour standard, the same amount of work would require about 9 workers. Was the 35-hour week successful?