[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 30, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H8670]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




[[Page H8670]]



                  THE WORKING FAMILIES FLEXIBILITY ACT

  (Mr. BALLENGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, as the percentage of employees who must 
balance work and family or personal interests grows rapidly, employers 
face obstacles in Federal law which prohibit them from providing 
flexible scheduling arrangements to their employees. The Working 
Families Flexibility Act gives employers the ability to offer their 
employees the option of receiving paid compensatory time off in lieu of 
overtime wages.
  Since 1985, the public sector has had the ability under the Fair 
Labor Standards Act to use so-called comp time in lieu of overtime pay. 
H.R. 2391 extends this option to the private sector, with some 
adjustments, taking into account the inherent differences between the 
public and private sectors.
  Comp time could only be provided at the request of an employee. An 
employee could, under an agreement with the employer, voluntarily 
choose to have time-and-one-half comp time over cash wages. If that 
same employee later decides that cash wages would be preferable to time 
off, then the employee could simply request to be compensated in wages. 
Nothing in the bill precludes employees from changing their minds. An 
employee could also request, at any time, to be paid cash wages for any 
accrued comp time.
  It is time that the private sector is given the same flexibility 
which the public sector had had for some time. Support the Working 
Families Flexibility Act--to provide employees with options and greater 
control in balancing work and family responsibilities.

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