Family-Friendly Workplace Act Reintroduced in the House
On February 10, 2009, Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash) reintroduced the Family-Friendly Workplace Act (H.R. 933), legislation that would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to permit private employers to offer employees the choice of receiving paid time off in lieu of cash wages for overtime hours worked if the employee prefers to take compensatory time instead of overtime pay. However, employees are always entitled to opt for overtime pay. The proposed legislation would permit employers to offer paid time off at a rate of one and a half hours of paid leave for each hour of employment for which overtime pay would ordinarily be required ( e.g., an employee working 48 hours in a week would receive either eight hours of pay at time-and-a-half or twelve hours of paid time off). To obtain the paid time off, the employee would have to consent in writing that he or she knowingly and voluntarily agreed to swap paid time off for overtime (where the employee is represented by a union, the agreement to offer compensatory time must be part of the collective bargaining agreement negotiated between the union and the employer); employees would be able to withdraw their request for the arrangement at any time. Such compensatory time agreements may not be made a condition of employment. Under the bill, employees could accrue up to 160 hours of compensatory time each year. An employer would be required to pay cash wages (i.e., "cash out") any accrued, unused compensatory time at the end of each year. Rodgers introduced similar legislation in 2008 (H.R. 6025), but it never got out of committee.
The Family-Friendly Workplace Act amends the FLSA, a law enacted in 1938 that prohibits private sector employers from giving their employees the option of paid time off as compensation for working overtime hours. Private sector workers are denied this flexibility under federal law despite the fact that public sector employees have long enjoyed the flexibility of a "comp time" option. "As a working mother, I know how important it is to find balance between work and family. The Family-Friendly Workplace Act removes obstacles that prevent working parents from spending time with their children or taking care of a sick relative," said McMorris Rodgers.
Reprinted with permission. © CCH
<p>Family Friendly Workplace Act Reintroduced in the House On February 10, 2009, Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R Wash) reintroduced the Family Friendly Workplace Act (H.R. 933), legislation that would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to permit private employers</p>