We may not be Utopia yet, but our labor system works well enough to have kept the community together and growing for over thirty years. It makes the good life work. We haven't quite achieved Skinner's four-hour work day yet. This year our work quota is 45.5 hours a week. We take work credit when we're sick, too, and quota is gradually reduced for older members as they age.
Every member is given close to three weeks of vacation time each year.
Every hour a member works over quota goes into a personal vacation balance, which is cumulative for the entire period of membership. We take our vacations whenever we like. Still, lowering quota is always a popular political issue at Twin Oaks, much like lowering taxes is on the outside. But while most of us would like to work less, few of us would like to take away hours or money from areas we care about. Working in the four-acre organic garden where we grow most of our food is domestic labor.