THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION PRESENTS:

EDITOR: JOE KEARNS PRINT EDUCATION COORDINATOR

CONTRIBUTORS: MIKE BARNES, WAHHAJ IQBAL, JOE
KEARNS, COLE LENNON, CAMILLE MENDOZA
FALL SEMESTER 2014: VOLUME SIX
OCTOBER 21, 2014
THE OPTIMAL BUNDLE

Anger and incidents of wage
theft likely have a positive
correlation.
Rages Over Wages
People who work for no pay might be dissatisfied, but those who work without due com-
pensation are fuming with rage. The number of American legal cases on wage theft is sky-
rocketing, with employees filing lawsuits over not receiving due compensation. Common
grievances include not paying for overtime work and taking employee tips without cause.
State and federal officials also point to competition and profit-seeking as reasons why em-
ployers flout wage regulations. The U.S. Labor Department found more than $1 billion in
unpaid wages among many employers since 2010. Employers retort that they have actual-
ly become more careful not to unjustly hide wages since high-profile cases against
Walmart and other firms ended in the early 2000s. One thing is certain: it is well past
time to pay workers what they are due. Extra caution is still not enough. - CL
READ MORE: http://nyti.ms/1A04CFy
The Fight for Shorter Work Hours
What legal recourse do workers have to limit the length of the workday? The overtime pay
rule serves to stabilize work periods duration and time of work. The principle that workers
should be paid higher rates for working longer than an established work period is ingrained in
labor laws and collective bargaining agreements. Despite past triumphs for workers, the issue
of overtime pay remains a struggle that requires public validation to continue to reap success.
According to the U.S. Labor Department, about 120 agreements with major bargaining units
covering 2 million workers will expire this year. To pass these gains to nonunion workers, the
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations plans to set special
committees to campaign for necessary legislation and a task force of economists, statisticians,
and lawyers to help affiliated unions seek higher overtime pay through collective bargaining.
While overtime pay is being negotiated, nothing less than the health and well-being of work-
ers is at stake. - MB
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Overtime pay negotia-
tions will affect 2 mil-
lion workers this year.
How to Outsource Your Own Job and (Almost) Get Away With It
Imagine earning a six-figure salary and having an eight hour work day consisting of
surfing Reddit, eBay, YouTube, and Facebook. One Verizon software developer, known
by the pseudonym Bob, pulled this off by contracting with a Chinese firm based in
Shenyang. Bob might not have been working, but he kept his salary at six figures by
paying the Shenyang firm less than one-fifth of his salary to write his code. Rather
than fire Bob when it discovered the scheme in January 2013, Verizon should have
praised his ingenuity and promoted him. Bob did not cost Verizon a penny with his
leisurely pursuits. According to BOLT, a business liability insurance company, Ameri-
can employees spend enough time on non-work tasks to cost their employers an annu-
al $134 billion in lost productivity. Ironically, Verizon is one of many U.S. companies
that have outsourced more than 2 million American jobs to make their business run
more efficiently. Whats one more? - JK Lazy or Genius? These
words are not mutually
exclusive.
READ MORE: http://bit.ly/1uxyUfC

Special Report on Labor Issues


Working a job from Monday to Friday might be as Ameri-
can as apple pie, but it is also revered worldwide. Russian
Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets argues that the costs
of shortening the workweek are too high to seriously enter-
tain the idea. However, there are benefits to a 4-day, 32-
hour schedule. It increases productivity and provides work-
ers with better health and more satisfaction. Evidently, it is
time to change the anachronistic notion of the typical work-
week by shortening it.

Proponents of the 40-hour workweek are mistaken to sug-
gest that productivity is higher than it would be in the
shortened workweek. When workers only have to concen-
trate their efforts for four days a week, it can increase
productivity by improving health and well-being. A short-
ened workweek reduces enough stress to lower blood pres-
sure. As time progresses, workers take less sick days off and
lower health insurance costs for private companies. Fur-
thermore, people will be more likely to visit doctors during
in their three-day weekend, as opposed to during the week.

In fact, the United States has allowed other industrialized
competitors to get ahead of it by not switching to a shorter
workweek. Norway and Denmark have 33-hour weeks, as
opposed to the Netherlands, which has 29-hour workweeks.
Firms in Korea and Japan have already reduced their work-
week, and a German company reported that it did not have
to downsize and fire workers because it implemented a 4-
day workweek. Recently, the Russian State Duma stated
that it would consider talks about implementing a 4-day
workweek for Russian workers. Clearly, Ms. Golodets is
blissfully ignorant.

More and more companies are considering this innovative
concept for workers. As the CEO of a graphic design firm
put it, [They] were using the extra day off to spend time
with their families, do errands and take long weekends
away, but also to schedule appointments they might other-
wise have taken an afternoon off to attend. These real-
world examples offer definitive proof that a 4-day work-
week is a plausible solution that increases worker produc-
tivity and overall satisfaction. While the 5-day-a-week
workers sigh and slump over Fridays, the shorter-week
workers will be able to shout, T.G.I.T.! - CM
Do workers really need a four-day work week? Or is the
demand for a four-day work week just a misguided excuse
to get out of work? People believe that the three-day week-
end motivates workers to work more, which increases
their productivity and gives them more free time. To main-
tain current levels of productivity, however, the work of
five days would have to be done in four days, which means
working from 8 to 10 hours a day. Working for long hours
can get some workers so stressed out that it, in turn, fur-
ther diminishes productivity. A reduction from the five-
day work week is an impractical policy which would have
horrendous consequences.

South Korea is living the nightmare of the four-day work
week. Despite an extra-day off, South Korean managers
schedule their workers to work a four-day work week with
40 hours of work in that span. This is one of the main rea-
sons why the workers are getting addicted to alcohol to
relieve stress from work. According to The Daily Mail, the
average person of drinking age in South Korea downs 13.7
shots a week more than any country in the world. In South
Korea, 'he who drinks more works better' is a common
saying.

Even if it is assumed that workers would work fewer
hours, proponents of the four-day work week are still falla-
cious in assuming that workers can only gain from an ex-
tra day off. Hard-working employees who have a four-day
schedule struggle to distinguish themselves from their
peers. They believe that once out of sight they are not in
the minds of the employers. Employers tend to promote
workers who put work first, which means showing up to
work every weekday.

The costs of the four-day workweek outweigh the benefits.
The promise of increased productivity, more time for fami-
ly, and better health by proponents of the four-day work
week is an empty one. Lower productivity, less healthy
workers, and general unhappiness in the workplace are the
far more meaningful impacts of this policy. Workers nei-
ther need the four-day work week, nor can they afford it. -
WI
Thank God Its Thursday!
Three Cheers For a Five Day Work
Week
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Should the U.S. adopt the four-day work week?
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