[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 148 (Thursday, September 21, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1826-E1827]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           THE COMPENSATORY TIME FOR ALL WORKERS ACT OF 1995

                                 ______


                          HON. CASS BALLENGER

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 21, 1995

  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing ``The Compensatory 
Time for All Workers Act of 1995'' which would allow private sector 
employers to offer employees the choice of taking time-and-a-half 
compensatory time as payment for overtime. In 1938, the Fair Labor 
Standards Act [FLSA] was written for a predominantly male work force 
and a marketplace primarily comprised of manufacturing firms. These 
demographics have dramatically changed. Today, women make up a much 
greater percentage of the work force, private enterprise is dominated 
by service and high technology industries rather than heavy 
manufacturing, global competition has significantly increased, and the 
lines between white and blue collar workers have been blurred.
  The FLSA, however, has failed to keep pace with these changes and, as 
such, restricts the ability of employers to meet the needs of their 
work force. The Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, which I chair, 
has heard from employees and employers of large and small companies, 
and State and local governments on a variety of problems which they 
face because of the act.
  Currently, the FLSA impedes an employer's ability to accommodate 
employee requests for greater flexibility in scheduling. Companies who 
want to be family friendly find that flexible scheduling can be 
extremely difficult for those employees who are covered by the act and 
whose hours must be kept track of. Suppose an employee has a terminally 
ill parent who lives several States away. Days off with pay can become 
precious for that employee when a 2-day weekend does not provide enough 
time to travel and spend time with that parent. Thus, when that 
employee works a few hours overtime each week, he or she may prefer to 
be paid with time off rather than money. However, the FLSA says the 
employee must receive money instead and is therefore forced to use 
previous paid leave to spend time with the ill parent.
  In 1985, Congress provided the public sector with the flexibility to 
use compensatory time in lieu of overtime pay. Congress has gone even 
further in providing flexibility for Federal workers. In 1978, Congress 
passed the Federal Employees Flexible and Compressed Work Schedules 
Act, which enabled Federal workers to arrange alternative work 
schedules which meet their personal needs and their employers' needs. 
This was so successful that Congress reauthorized the program in 1982 
and 1985. President Clinton acknowledged the benefit of flexible 
scheduling when he directed all executive departments and agencies to 
expand their use of flexible family friendly work arrangements in a 
memorandum on July 11, 1994. In issuing the memorandum, Mr. Clinton 
stated, ``broad use of flexible work arrangements to enable Federal 
employees to better balance their work and family responsibilities can 
increase employee effectiveness and job satisfaction, while decreasing 
turnover rates and absenteeism.''
  It is time that private sector employees be given greater flexibility 
similar to what the public sector has enjoyed for some time. This 
legislation would allow employers to offer employees compensatory time 
off in lieu of overtime pay under an agreement with the employee. If an 
employer made compensatory time available, employees would be free to 
choose to have their overtime compensated with cash or with paid time 
off. As with overtime pay, the compensatory time would accrue at a rate 
of time and a half. Employees who prefer to receive overtime pay would 
be free to choose this. Similarly, employers would have the 

[[Page E 1827]]
choice of continuing to compensate their employees with overtime pay 
only. Employees who do not use the compensatory time would be paid for 
the time at the end of the year.
  The FLSA currently stands in the way of companies who attempt to 
utilize flexible human resource strategies in order to allow workers to 
pursue more fulfilling combinations of work, family life, and other 
interests. As the percentage of employees who must balance work and 
family issues grows rapidly, there is more and more pressure from 
employees for increased control over their work schedule. Flexibility 
in the workplace continues to rank high on the list of issues of major 
concern to most employees. This legislation would allow employers to 
provide employees with the choice of overtime pay or compensatory time 
to help ease the burdens of juggling work and personal 
responsibilities.

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