America Had No 40-Hour Week Until 1940 — How Long Did People Actually Work?

There is still no law limiting how many hours your employer can make you work. There never has been. Before 1940, American steelworkers logged 84-hour weeks — twelve hours a day, seven days a week, no rest day. This is how that ended, and why the law that supposedly fixed it never actually capped anyone's hours. Sources: US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, EH.net Economic History Association. 40 hour work week history, fair labor standards act 1938, 84 hour work week steel, overtime pay history, labor history documentary