The 8-hour workday dates back to the 19th-century. It was designed to split the day into three equal parts (work, free-time, and sleep). Given the heavily industrial nature of work in those days, and the rise of labor unions to protect workers, the 8-hour workday not only became commonplace, but was also legislated with additional protections for over-time. Nearly 100 years later, most organizations still cling to the 8-hour workday, in spite of the dramatically different landscape of the workplace today.