As a moderate libertarian, I share your aversion to things like this being done in law. I default to the assumption that the free market is the right way to sol

As a moderate libertarian, I share your aversion to things like this being done in law. I default to the assumption that the free market is the right way to solve problems, and I accept the need for government intervention only when compelled to do so by an overwhelming weight of evidence. This is an area where I now accept the need for government intervention because I am compelled to do so by an overwhelming weight of evidence. We now know that the optimum working week for economic output, let alone quality of life, is substantially less than forty hours. We also know that it cannot be left to individual employees to negotiate with their employers. In a perfect world perhaps it could, but in the real world it cannot. It's one of those problems that just has to be solved by collective rather than individual action.