October 24, 1940 - The 40 hour work week goes into effect (Fair Labor Standards Act - FLSA)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Labor_Standards_Act
The FLSA was originally drafted in 1932 by senator Hugo Black,[8] who was later appointed to the Supreme Court in 1937.[8] However, Black's proposal to require employers to adopt a 30 hours workweek[8] met stiff resistance. In 1938, a revised version of Black's proposal was passed that adopted an 8-hour day and a 40-hour workweek and allowed workers to earn wage for 4-additional hours of overtime as well.[8] According to the Act, workers must be paid minimum wage and overtime pay must be 1 1/2 times regular pay. Children under the age of 18 cannot do certain dangerous jobs and children under the age of 16 cannot work. 700,000 workers were affected by the FLSA and Roosevelt called it the most important piece of New Deal legislation passed since the Social Security Act of 1935[9] This also helped combat child labor.[10]
Thanks to LIBERALS!