Publication Date

8-2025

Journal

North Carolina Law Review

Abstract

Americans work harder than their counterparts in many other advanced economies. While many predicted that technological progress would eventually make work obsolete, Americans continue to pull long hours. Although stories of worker burnout and “quiet quitting” suggest that this situation is not a good fit for everyone, any problems are largely invisible to the conceptual frameworks that dominate the analysis of law. These frameworks normally assume the goal of maximizing production and often treat the human preference for leisure as a problem to be solved. This Article analyzes the problem of overwork. In doing so, it surfaces legal and policy mechanisms that may be leading workers to choose—or to be forced into— hours that are personally or socially suboptimal. Law and policy can construct market conditions and norms in ways that distort workers’ choices between labor and leisure. Law also often directly encourages a one-size-fits-all approach to work that is not appropriate for all workers. Beyond sharpening an analytical toolkit for understanding problems outside the normal framework of maximizing production, the discussion identifies a range of policy mechanisms that could help address the problem of overwork.

Volume

103

Issue

6

First Page

1671

Last Page

1742

Publisher

North Carolina Law Review Association

Disciplines

Labor and Employment Law | Law

Download

Share

COinS