[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2391 Reported in House (RH)]





                                                 Union Calendar No. 343

104th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 2391

                          [Report No. 104-670]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide compensatory 
                        time for all employees.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             July 11, 1996

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed





                                                 Union Calendar No. 343
104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 2391

                          [Report No. 104-670]

 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide compensatory 
                        time for all employees.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 21, 1995

Mr. Ballenger introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
          Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities

                             July 11, 1996

  Additional sponsors: Mr. Goodling, Mr. Fawell, Mr. Knollenberg, Mr. 
Norwood, Mr. Greenwood, Mr. Burr, Mr. Gunderson, Mr. Herger, Mr. Taylor 
  of North Carolina, Mr. Bliley, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. 
 Barrett of Nebraska, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Souder, Mr. Petri, Mr. McIntosh, 
Mr. Graham, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Inglis of South Carolina, Mr. Kim, Ms. 
Pryce, Mr. Solomon, Mr. Shadegg, Mr. Stenholm, Mr. Shays, Mrs. Myrick, 
    Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Fields of Texas, Mr. 
Hayworth, Mr. Miller of Florida, Mr. Funderburk, Mr. Weldon of Florida, 
   Ms. Greene of Utah, Mr. Coburn, Mrs. Johnson of Connecticut, Mrs. 
 Fowler, Ms. Dunn of Washington, Ms. Molinari, Mr. Paxon, Mr. Dornan, 
           Mr. Horn, Mr. Salmon, Mr. Manzullo, and Mr. Ehlers

                             July 11, 1996

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
    [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on 
                          September 21, 1995]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide compensatory 
                        time for all employees.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Working Families Flexibility Act of 
1996''.

SEC. 2. COMPENSATORY TIME.

    Subsection (o) of section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
(29 U.S.C. 207) is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraphs (1) through (5) and inserting 
        the following:
    ``(1) An employee may receive, in accordance with this subsection 
and in lieu of monetary overtime compensation, compensatory time off at 
a rate not less than one and one-half hours for each hour of employment 
for which overtime compensation is required by this section.
    ``(2) An employer may provide compensatory time under paragraph (1) 
only--
            ``(A) pursuant to--
                    ``(i) applicable provisions of a collective 
                bargaining agreement, memorandum of understanding, or 
                any other agreement between the employer and 
                representatives of such employees, or
                    ``(ii) in the case of employees who are not 
                represented by a collective bargaining agent or other 
                representative designated by the employee, an agreement 
                or understanding arrived at between the employer and 
                employee before the performance of the work if such 
                agreement or understanding was entered into knowingly 
                and voluntarily by such employee;
            ``(B) in the case of an employee who is not an employee of 
        a public agency, if such employee has affirmed, in a written or 
        otherwise verifiable statement that is made, kept, and 
        preserved in accordance with section 11(c), that the employee 
        has chosen to receive compensatory time in lieu of overtime 
        compensation; and
            ``(C) if the employee has not accrued compensatory time in 
        excess of the limit applicable to the employee prescribed by 
        paragraph (5).
In the case of employees described in subparagraph (A)(ii) who are 
employees of a public agency and who were hired before April 15, 1986, 
the regular practice in effect on such date with respect to 
compensatory time off for such employees in lieu of the receipt of 
overtime compensation, shall constitute an agreement or understanding 
described in such subparagraph. Except as provided in the preceding 
sentence, the provision of compensatory time off to employees of a 
public agency for hours worked after April 14, 1986, shall be in 
accordance with this subsection. An employer may provide compensatory 
time under paragraph (1) to an employee who is not an employee of a 
public agency only if such agreement or understanding was not a 
condition of employment.
    ``(3) An employer which is not a public agency and which provides 
compensatory time under paragraph (1) to employees shall not directly 
or indirectly intimidate, threaten, or coerce or attempt to intimidate, 
threaten, or coerce any employee for the purpose of--
            ``(A) interfering with such employee's rights under this 
        subsection to request or not request compensatory time off in 
        lieu of payment of overtime compensation for overtime hours; or
            ``(B) requiring any employee to use such compensatory time.
    ``(4)(A) An employee, who is not an employee of a public agency, 
may accrue not more than 240 hours of compensatory time.
    ``(B)(i) Not later than January 31 of each calendar year, the 
employee's employer shall provide monetary compensation for any 
compensatory time off accrued during the preceding calendar year which 
was not used prior to December 31 of the preceding year at the rate 
prescribed by paragraph (6). An employer may designate and communicate 
to the employer's employees a 12-month period other than the calendar 
year, in which case such compensation shall be provided not later than 
31 days after the end of such 12-month period.
    ``(ii) The employer may provide monetary compensation for an 
employee's unused compensatory time at any time. Such compensation 
shall be provided at the rate prescribed by paragraph (6).
    ``(C) An employee may also request in writing that monetary 
compensation be provided, at any time, for all compensatory time 
accrued which has not yet been used. Within 30 days of receiving the 
written request, the employer shall provide the employee the monetary 
compensation due in accordance with paragraph (6).
    ``(5)(A) If the work of an employee of a public agency for which 
compensatory time may be provided included work in a public safety 
activity, an emergency response activity, or a seasonal activity, the 
employee engaged in such work may accrue not more than 480 hours of 
compensatory time for hours worked after April 15, 1986. If such work 
was any other work, the employee engaged in such work may accrue not 
more than 240 hours of compensatory time for hours worked after April 
15, 1986. Any such employee who, after April 15, 1986, has accrued 480 
or 240 hours, as the case may be, of compensatory time off shall, for 
additional overtime hours of work, be paid overtime compensation.
    ``(B) If compensation is paid to an employee described in 
subparagraph (A) for accrued compensatory time off, such compensation 
shall be paid at the regular rate earned by the employee at the time 
the employee receives such payment.
    ``(6)(A) An employee of an employer which is not a public agency 
who has accrued compensatory time off authorized to be provided under 
paragraph (1) shall, upon the voluntary or involuntary termination of 
employment, be paid for the unused compensatory time at a rate of 
compensation not less than--
            ``(i) the average regular rate received by such employee 
        during the period during which the compensatory time was 
        accrued, or
            ``(ii) the final regular rate received by such employee,
whichever is higher.
    ``(B) An employee of an employer which is a public agency who has 
accrued compensatory time off authorized to be provided under paragraph 
(1) shall, upon the voluntary or involuntary termination of employment, 
be paid for the unused compensatory time at a rate of compensation not 
less than--
            ``(i) the average regular rate received by such employee 
        during the last 3 years of the employee's employment, or
            ``(ii) the final regular rate received by such employee,
whichever is higher.
    ``(C) Any payment owed to an employee under this subsection for 
unused compensatory time shall, for purposes of section 16(b), be 
considered unpaid overtime compensation.
    ``(7) An employee--
            ``(A) who has accrued compensatory time off authorized to 
        be provided under paragraph (1), and
            ``(B) who has requested the use of such compensatory time,
shall be permitted by the employee's employer to use such time within a 
reasonable period after making the request if the use of the 
compensatory time does not unduly disrupt the operations of the 
employer.''; and
            (2) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs 
        (8) and (9), respectively.

SEC. 3. REMEDIES.

    Section 16 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216) 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by striking ``(b) Any employer'' and 
        inserting ``(b) Except as provided in subsection (f), any 
        employer''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) An employer which is not a public agency and which willfully 
violates section 7(o)(3) shall be liable to the employee affected in 
the amount of the rate of compensation (determined in accordance with 
section 7(o)(6)(A)) for each hour of compensatory time accrued by the 
employee and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages 
reduced by the amount of such rate of compensation for each hour of 
compensatory time used by such employee.''.