This isn’t about Obamacare. If it was, his hours would drop below 30. Above 30 is still considered “full-time” by the government. You mention a plant, so this is probably about unions. It’s likely a concession to shorten the work day was negotiated as some part of a union contract and that is probably how this oddity happened.
Although, I have known IT jobs where the 40-hour work week was tweaked to fit around 12-hour shifts or 10-hour shifts and, in some cases, the worker did 36 hours one week and 44 the next but averaged to 80 in a two-week paycheck.
Just be thankful he has a job and is getting paid well enough to keep the household afloat.
20 odd years ago I worked for a large national firm, then went to work for a competitor firm. Both had 37.5 hour work weeks. This not something new, obviously.
Less than 40hrs. the employer doesn’t have pay benefits also that Obamacare thing.
9 to 5 with 30 minutes off for lunch.
Where my wife works has been 37.5 hours since before she got there (quarter century). The general reason is it avoids overtime if shifts go a little over.
I was the payroll manager/timekeeper for a large municipal hospital system. In our case, the work week hours were defined by union contracts.
Although all employees were on the premises 40 hours per week, some only worked 37½ hours (with ½ hour unpaid lunch). Manintenance men, nurse’s aides, and institutional aides (housekeeping and kitchen staff) were 37½ hour/week employees.
Others had a 35 hour work week, with a one-hour unpaid lunch per day. That included the clerical staff ... and the plumbers and electricians who have a very sweet contract. They have a strict Monday to Friday work week. If they are required to work on a weekend, they receive double pay and if a holiday falls on a weekend, they get triple pay. So instead of a normal $50/hour wage, they have the potential of making $150/hour on a holiday weekend.
And still others, like Registered Nurses, were paid for 40 hours per week ... they were paid for their lunch hour.
All were considered full-time employees. Employees who worked 20 or less hours per week were part-timers.
That sounds kind of nice. One place I worked at, we had flex time. I worked the hours such that I had my 40 hours done by 11 am on Friday. Kind of bad is like on Fri morning, there would be some mandatory meeting like at 3 or 4 pm. The notice would be given right before Noon. So much for starting an early weekend ! I ignored the notices for the meetings and left like at 11 am. The meeting was all about how mgt was doing so much good for us worker bees ! Of course, I got called in several times and asked why I wasn’t at the late Fri afternoon meeting. My response was the meetings were so useless except to keep us there until the very end of the day before the weekend and meetings were a such a waste of time.
About a year or two after I started to work for this a-hole manager, I got transferred to a different group which worked at a base. The management at the base was particular. Casual day was unknown like on Friday and also leaving early on Friday’s was not allowed ! In fact before starting the job, you had to spend a day, of course unpaid where you do paperwork, listen to useless speeches from management. Also the rules were given and the East Coast executive manager came in to emphasize the executive dress code and no leaving early on Friday unlike elsewhere. Of course we didn’t work in his organization so we blew off what he said. My typical Friday was to get in like 6 am, go get my hot breakfast (eggs and bacon) then work until 15 minutes short of 40 hours then make my way out. I swipe my card where it was 40 hours. It was emphasized that it was off the clock unless you were at your desk but our rules were different where they paid your time when you swiped in until you swiped your card. I was in that job for a couple of years then there were cuts and I was given orders to move to the East Coast. In fact part of the move was I was required to sell my house at a loss. I kind of played the company’s game until I was terminated for refusing to cooperate in going to the East Coast.