[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 74 (Monday, May 1, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H2992-H2995]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  JOB FLEXIBILITY FOR WORKING FAMILIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rutherford). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 3, 2017, the gentlewoman from Alabama (Mrs. 
Roby) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority 
leader.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous materials on the topic of my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Alabama?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1180, the 
Working Families Flexibility Act.
  I would love to take credit for this idea. It is not my own. It is a 
bill that has been carried by other Members on several occasions. I 
have had the privilege to carry this bill the last few Congresses, and 
I am excited that we are going to debate this bill tomorrow and, God 
willing, have a vote on it.
  The Working Families Flexibility Act is a simple amendment to the 
Fair Labor Standards Act. The Fair Labor Standards Act has been the law 
of the land since 1938.

  In 1985, the Fair Labor Standards Act was amended to allow 
compensatory time. That is paid time off in lieu of cash wages for 
overtime for public sector employees. But, oddly enough, private sector 
employees were left out of the equation.
  This bill, H.R. 1180, simply provides that the private sector can 
have access to compensatory time in lieu of cash wages for overtime. 
This doesn't eliminate overtime, but, rather, gives flexibility in the 
workplace for hardworking Americans to make a decision about how to use 
their time.
  Every time an hourly wage employee works an hour of overtime, they 
would be eligible for an hour and a half of paid leave only if the 
employer first offers this as a benefit, but, most importantly, that 
the employee elects voluntarily to choose compensatory time over cash 
payments for overtime.
  Congress cannot legislate another hour in the day, but what we can do 
is provide flexibility for hardworking moms and dads all over this 
country that may want to use their accrued overtime to coach a soccer 
game, help with an aging parent, take their child to the pediatrician, 
or, quite frankly, accrue the time to go on a mission trip somewhere. 
But this is an opportunity for us to provide this benefit for employees 
all over this country, like I said, hardworking men and women that just 
want flexibility.
  It is voluntary. It must be done through a written agreement between 
the employer and the employee. But, most importantly, outside of being 
voluntary, the employee can opt out at any time. The employee can cash 
out, so to speak. There are cash-out provisions in this bill.
  So if the arrangement between the employer and the employee is not 
working out, meaning the employee can't find the appropriate time to 
utilize the compensatory time, the employee can say: Do you know what? 
I would rather have my cash payments for overtime.
  And within 30 days the employer must provide those cash payments that 
that employee has rightfully earned.
  I just think this is a great opportunity for us to provide this 
benefit to so many folks out there who are just trying to balance their 
life and work, their children, their parents, and all of the things 
that come with that. As a working mom, I certainly can relate to all of 
the pushes and pulls that parents have on them in wanting to just 
provide for their family. Again, at the end of the day, this time 
belongs to that individual, therefore, he or she ought to be able to 
make a decision about how to use their time.
  I have several Members who are here tonight that are going to speak 
on this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner). 
I thank her so much for her willingness to speak on this issue.
  Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Alabama for 
yielding, my good friend, Martha Roby, who has been such a leader on 
this issue. It has been my great privilege to be a sponsor of the 
Working Families Flexibility Act in the 113th Congress, in the 114th 
Congress, and now again in the 115th Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Working Families Flexibility 
Act of 2017, which will remove a Federal restriction on private sector 
employees who would like the option of comp time compensation in lieu 
of cash for their overtime work, the same as public sector employees. 
Mr. Speaker, we are talking about a voluntary choice made by employees 
for cash overtime or for comp time.
  The last thing our Federal Government should be doing is dictating 
how our small-business employees and entrepreneur compensation 
operates. Mr. Speaker, in November, Missourians and many Americans 
spoke loud and clear: it is time to get government out of the 
pocketbooks and off of the backs of hardworking Americans.
  Americans are also desperate for job flexibility. I know I was also 
as a working mom when I worked at Ralston Purina in St. Louis, 
Missouri. They want to have a better balance of obligations of their 
day-to-day jobs while taking care of family and family matters.
  The Working Families Flexibility Act will help us do just that. For 
the past 30 years, public sector employees have enjoyed the benefit of 
choosing voluntary paid time off, or comp time, instead of cash wages 
as compensation for working overtime hours. Private sector workers, who 
make up an incredibly large portion of our economy, should also reap 
this benefit. It is simply common sense.
  Amending this overtime restriction through this legislation will help 
bring our workforce standards into the 21st century and allow our 
workers to do their jobs while still providing them with the voluntary 
flexibility to raise a family, pursue a college degree, care for aging 
parents, or tend to the day-to-day obligations that come their way.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Working Families 
Flexibility Act, as it safeguards workers' time and wages, and protects 
their use of the comp time they have earned. Most importantly, as we 
work each day to get our economy back on track, this legislation 
empowers the American worker with more options and flexibility that 
will ultimately lead to a better quality of life.
  Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for taking the time 
to speak on this bill. I appreciate her willingness to speak on behalf 
of the Working Families Flexibility Act. In doing so, she is speaking 
on behalf of so many hardworking American families.
  Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure. And I must say, since we 
do have time, that her being a champion of this in the last three 
Congresses that I have had the pleasure of working--and my constituents 
in Missouri's Second District have sent me--it is wonderful to see a 
working mom like her, who is juggling all of those day-to-day needs, to 
stand up for private sector workers who deserve the same kinds of 
options and flexibility that our public service has enjoyed for some 30 
years. So I thank her for being a

[[Page H2993]]

champion in this way. She is a wonderful legislator and a wonderful 
mother, too.

  Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield to the 
gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), our majority leader. During 
my time in Congress, I don't know anyone who has been a stronger 
champion for finding ways to help families using conservative, 
commonsense ideas.
  Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, Congresswoman Martha Roby is an amazing woman. She is a 
Congresswoman, she is an attorney, she is a wife, but, most 
importantly, she is a mother to two beautiful children. She has the 
same concerns and the same challenges that everybody else across this 
country has: Does she have enough time? Does she have the flexibility?
  Just going through her own life, listening to her constituents, she 
came forth with this bill. She has worked hard to bring the Working 
Families Flexibility Act to this floor. She has done it before, and it 
passed in this House. One of the things I admire most about her is she 
does not give up. Because it is not about her; it is about the rest of 
America, and it is also about fairness.
  In 1978, Congress granted this choice to government employees. 
Twenty-nine years later, it is past time we end the double standard and 
offer the same deals to workers in the private sector.
  You can work and work overtime, but then you have the choice if you 
want to take that in pay, or would you like to have comp time?
  Maybe there is a child sick, or maybe you have a family member that 
comes down with a disease, or another choice. You can go and spend 
time. You get to direct it. I think that is great policy. That is why 
government workers have it.
  But why can't they have the same standards in the private sector?
  Do you know what would happen?
  Higher productivity. It would actually move America's economy.
  Why?
  Because the individual has choice.
  Instead of being concerned and worried about something that is 
happening away that you need to be at, you put that time in. And 
instead of taking the money, you put it into flexibility.

                              {time}  1945

  When we look at the future and think about the economy we want to 
have, yes, we want great employees; we want happy employees; we want 
employees with great productivity. But we don't want that just to 
happen in government. We want the private sector to have the same 
fairness that government has.
  It is a great idea. But I will tell you, the work that Congresswoman 
Martha Roby has done has led this charge. It has passed this House 
before, and we are going to find time in a very busy week to have the 
flexibility to do this bill tomorrow because you know what? The rest of 
America is waiting for it.
  I want to congratulate Congresswoman Roby for her work on it, for not 
giving up, for listening to constituents across this country, but also 
for every working family in the private sector to let them have a 
choice to have the flexibility to be where they need to be after they 
put the overtime in. It is only fair, and, to me, it is the American 
way to solve a problem.
  Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the leader for bringing this bill to 
the floor and giving it the recognition and the time that it deserves. 
I appreciate the leader taking his time to be here and speak on behalf 
of the Working Families Flexibility Act.
  I would like to turn now to my friend and my colleague, also from 
Missouri (Vicky Hartzler). I just want to point out, though, as I move 
to her comments, we have to recognize that the workforce has changed. 
More than 70 percent of mothers today work outside of the home, and the 
gentlewoman here is certainly one of those who understands that as she 
has worked so hard and now Tiffany is about to graduate from high 
school. It seems like yesterday that we were bringing our babies to the 
floor together.
  But 70 percent of mothers today work outside of the home. Fifty years 
ago, that number was less than 30 percent. So the workforce has changed 
tremendously, but our policies have not kept up with that change.
  I yield to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Hartzler).
  Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. I appreciate the 
gentlewoman championing this issue, and we have brought our kids here 
and know the challenges of juggling work and family--and we are not 
alone. As you said, many, many families in this country are facing 
these same challenges, and that is why I am so excited about your bill 
and so proud to sponsor it and stand with you tonight.
  The family is really the foundation of our country, and to have 
strong families, we need to be able to make ways to encourage them to 
be together, especially for those special, special events. I know there 
are many, many moms and dads out there working today who would love to 
be able to have the flexibility of the workplace where they can take 
off and spend some time with their kids at the soccer game, or when 
they get that phone call from the school that their child is sick, 
please come pick them up, to be able to have that flexibility to do 
that and to take them to the doctor or to stay home with them if they 
are sick. Then, as families age, many families need to be with their 
parent or need to go to the doctor with them.
  These are just commonsense things to allow that flexibility where you 
could work some overtime and choose, instead of having the extra money, 
you could choose to be able to use that to spend time with your family, 
those people that mean the most to you. That is just precious. It is 
priceless to be able to do that. And it is really sad now that, in our 
country, only half of the American workers have this option, and they 
are workers who work for the government. But yet, if you work for that 
small business in town or that manufacturer making a product and 
shipping it overseas, proud, made in U.S.A., sorry. Our government 
right now says, the Fair Labor Standards Act says, you don't get that 
option, but if you work for the Federal Government then you would, and 
that is just not fair.
  So I applaud you for drafting this bill so that every American family 
would have the option to be able to spend time with those people that 
mean the most to them. It is just common sense. The time has well 
passed for us to pass this.
  I just commend you for putting this forth again. I am very excited 
about this bill, proud to stand alongside you and look forward to what 
I believe should be--should be--a unanimous vote tomorrow because this 
is such a great bill.
  So thank you so much for allowing me to come down and to share my 
support, and the people of the Fourth District of Missouri would just 
love to have this. Keep up the great work. We will look forward to 
bringing this across the finish line.
  Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentlewoman and all of her 
comments and her support as a working mom who understands all of the 
pushes and pulls that so many American families face.
  I want to spend a little bit of time, while I have the opportunity, 
to talk about some of the myths about the Working Families Flexibility 
Act. There is so much misinformation, false information that is out 
there about this bill.
  Trust me, we are on social media responding to the information that 
is being put out there that is incorrect because we want to make sure 
people understand. This bill is not intended to hurt people. It is 
intended to help people and offer a much-needed benefit to provide 
people flexibility in the workforce.
  The first myth I want to address is that this will result in 
employees working longer hours for less pay. The fact is that the 
Working Families Flexibility Act safeguards workers' time and wages. 
Receiving paid time off or compensatory time for working overtime hours 
under this bill is completely voluntary. An employee who prefers to 
receive cash payments for overtime hours worked is always free to do 
so.
  Employers and employees are required to complete a written comp time 
agreement, a voluntary written agreement, and an employee can withdraw 
from this agreement at any time and receive cash wages for accrued comp 
time.

[[Page H2994]]

  Comp time is accrued at the same rate as overtime cash wages, so 
employees who work more than the 40-hour week will accrue paid time off 
at a rate time and a half for the overtime hours worked. Workers can 
cash out--meaning, say ``I want the money instead of the time''--
whenever they choose, and employers are required to provide those cash 
wages that that employee has accrued within 30 days of receiving that 
employee's request.
  Another myth is that the Working Families Flexibility Act will allow 
employers to control when workers use their comp time. The fact is that 
the Working Families Flexibility Act protects employees' use of the 
compensatory time that they have earned. The Working Families 
Flexibility Act allows workers to use their comp time whenever they 
choose as long as they provide reasonable notice and the leave is not 
overly disruptive.
  The unduly disrupt provision included in H.R. 1180, the Working 
Families Flexibility Act, is the same standard used today for public 
employees who are using this benefit to receive comp time, and this has 
worked for over 30 years. As my colleagues have already stated, this is 
a matter of fairness. If it is good enough for government employees, it 
should be good enough for private sector employees as well.
  All existing labor enforcement remedies, including action by the 
Department of Labor, are available if a worker believes he or she has 
been unfairly treated. I can't put enough emphasis on this, that the 
anticoercion, the anti-intimidation provisions that are currently a 
part of the law, of course, apply to the Working Families Flexibility 
Act. And it even promotes greater workplace flexibility while 
protecting the needs of the employer, but the employee is very 
protected from that type of behavior and coercion by the employer.
  I have some other myths and facts that I am going to go over, but I 
see that the chairwoman of the Education and the Workforce Committee 
has joined us. I really appreciate the gentlewoman, the chairwoman, and 
all the work that she has done to support the working Families 
Flexibility Act.
  I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx).
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Roby for leading this 
Special Order, but a special thanks to you for introducing H.R. 1180, 
the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2017. Everyone in the private 
sector, men and women, are grateful to you for doing this.
  I may repeat some of the things that some of my colleagues have 
already said, but, Mr. Speaker, they bear repeating.
  This proposal, this bill, is about freedom, flexibility, and 
fairness. Workers, not the Federal Government, should have the freedom 
to choose what is best for them and their families. Hardworking men and 
women need more flexibility to balance work, life, and family, and 
there should be fair workforce policies that don't put private sector 
employees at a disadvantage to those in the public sector.
  Across the country, there are moms and dads who wish they had more 
flexibility to make their child's baseball game or dance recital, 
students who can't find enough time to study for college finals while 
working full time, and individuals who are struggling to care for an 
aging relative. There are many workers who want flexible work 
arrangements instead of rigid 9 to 5 schedules so they can attend to 
their personal needs.
  This bill will improve the quality of life of many Americans by 
offering workers eligible for overtime pay a choice between paid time 
off and cash wages. Outdated Federal labor rules currently prohibit 
private sector workers from exercising this choice.
  More than 30 years ago, Republicans and Democrats amended the law to 
give public sector workers the option of comp time. This was a positive 
step, but it created double standards. It is time to ease this double 
standard by leveling the playing field between private sector employees 
and government workers when it comes to workplace flexibility. That is 
exactly what this bill does. It is a commonsense idea that should 
receive the support of workers on both sides of the aisle.
  As my colleague from Alabama said, the decision to choose comp time 
is completely voluntary and requires a written agreement between the 
worker and employer. Those who want to continue receiving cash wages as 
overtime pay are always free to do so. It also explicitly prohibits 
employers from coercing workers into electing comp time.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill is, again, about fairness, and it is so 
difficult for me to understand how Democrats would be opposed to that. 
We should have the same rules in the private sector as we do in the 
public sector. I think that Democrats have run out of excuses not to 
provide workers this choice. All we are doing here is giving a choice.
  No one, Republican nor Democrat, should think they know what is best 
for individual workers and their families.
  Mr. Speaker, when we vote on this bill this week, I hope all of our 
colleagues will come to their senses and see that they are 
discriminating against the private sector by denying them the 
opportunity to take their overtime as comp time and that they will vote 
with us.
  Again, I thank my colleague from Alabama for her leadership on this 
Special Order, but particularly her willingness to introduce this bill 
and take the lead in promoting it.
  Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairwoman, and again, I 
appreciate her leadership for moving this bill through committee and 
for getting it ready through the Rules Committee so that we can be here 
on the floor tomorrow. Again, I appreciate her leadership on this and 
many, many other issues that she does on a daily basis to fight for 
Americans, in this case, Americans that are subject to the provisions 
of the Fair Labor Standards Act that would benefit from this amendment 
in the private sector.

                              {time}  2000

  I want to go back. I have two more myths that I would like to 
address.
  Here is the myth: the Working Families Flexibility Act will allow 
employers to force workers to take comp time instead of cash payments 
for overtime.
  The fact is that the Working Families Flexibility Act prohibits 
worker coercion. The decision to use compensatory time is completely 
voluntary. An employee who prefers to receive cash payments for 
overtime hours worked is always free to do that. It explicitly 
prohibits an employer from directly or indirectly intimidating, 
threatening, or coercing; or attempting to intimidate, threaten, or 
coerce an employee into taking or not taking compensatory time.
  An employer who violates these anticoercion provisions will be liable 
to the affected employee for double damages which includes both the 
amount of the comp time and an equal amount in cash wages.
  In addition to new provisions prohibiting coercion, H.R. 1180 ensures 
all existing enforcement remedies, including action by the Department 
of Labor, and are available to workers if an employer fails to pay cash 
wages for the overtime hours worked.
  Myth: this bill is unnecessary because current law already allows for 
workplace flexibility. The fact is that the Working Families 
Flexibility Act empowers workers with more options. Under the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938, private sector employees may only use paid 
time off during the same paid period in which it is accrued. Paid time 
off cannot be saved by the employee for future use outside of that pay 
period.
  The law currently allows public sector employees to accrue comp time 
to be used at their discretion so long as reasonable notice is given 
and the leave does not unduly disrupt the workplace.
  My amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Working Families 
Flexibility Act, H.R. 1180, provides private sector employees with comp 
time benefits similar to what is already available in the public 
sector.
  Here is how it works: an hourly wage employee would be able to 
voluntarily enter into an agreement with their employer to put all of 
some of their accrued overtime towards paid time off instead of cash 
wages. A working dad could use the time-and-a-half overtime he has 
earned to take a paid hour and a half off of work. No employee, again, 
could ever be forced to take the paid

[[Page H2995]]

time off, just like no business would be forced to offer this benefit.
  Upon introducing this bill 4 years ago, I heard from a very special 
lady named Karen DeLoach. She worked as a bookkeeper in an accounting 
firm of my hometown, Montgomery, Alabama. Like most in her line of 
work, Karen would put in many hours during the busy season and build up 
a lot of overtime. Karen once approached her boss and said: Well, can I 
accrue my overtime to use as paid leave rather than taking the cash 
payments? Because, see, Karen gave her time to serve on a mission trip 
in Nicaragua every summer, and she wanted to do so and go on her 
church's mission trip without interrupting her regular paycheck.
  Montgomery, Alabama, is the State capital, and Karen had heard her 
State employee friends talk about how they swapped their overtime pay 
for comp time in their jobs. She never imagined that a similar 
arrangement at the private business at which she worked would be 
against the law, but that is what her boss informed her. He wanted to 
give it to her, but he couldn't under the law. To his credit, he wanted 
to offer it to her, but he wasn't about to break the law.
  Karen's story isn't unique. As I have already referenced, just think 
of all the parents in this country with young kids or caring for 
elderly parents or a military family with one or both of the parents 
deployed or about to deploy. They need time to get ready to take care 
of their responsibilities.
  So the Working Families Flexibility Act is not going to end or solve 
the debt crisis or fix ObamaCare or simplify the Tax Code. I am proud 
of our ongoing efforts here in Congress to repeal and replace 
ObamaCare, to put forth a tax policy that is fair, flatter, and 
simpler, and to continue to cut out wasteful spending. This bill 
doesn't solve those problems.
  But the fact that we can't solve those problems overnight shouldn't 
stop us here in the House of Representatives from doing what we can do 
right now to help make life a little easier for working moms and dads. 
That is what the Working Families Flexibility Act does, helping 
Americans better balance the demands of family and work.
  I want to thank all those Members who have come here to the floor 
tonight to speak on this bill. As a working mom myself, I certainly 
understand all too well how challenging it can be to balance our 
responsibilities.
  Again, I have sponsored this bill this Congress, of course, and the 
past two before that. I have heard criticism from labor unions and 
their allies saying that this bill is somehow antiunion or antiworker. 
This is just simply untrue.
  Of course, many in Big Labor will reflexively attack any proposal 
that would change a single word of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 
Ironically here, labor unions, see, they oppose this, but they 
themselves can and often do negotiate similar agreements for their 
members already.
  That seems a bit unfair. So it is okay for those who are members of 
unions to negotiate similar compensatory time arrangements, it is okay 
for those who work in the public sector under the law to utilize 
compensatory time, but it is just not good enough for the hourly wage 
employee in the private sector. That is more than unfair.
  The legislation is completely voluntary for both the employer and the 
employee. It does not affect the 40-hour workweek or change the way 
overtime is calculated. It strengthens provisions for workers and 
increases penalties for abuse. It contains strong anticoercion 
provisions that would prohibit an employer from directly or indirectly 
trying to intimidate or coerce workers into taking comp time.
  Workers have the option under the Working Families Flexibility Act to 
cash out at any time. If for some reason this agreement, this voluntary 
agreement, just isn't working out, an employee can always take the 
cash, no questions asked.

  And, finally, for workers represented by a labor union, any comp time 
arrangement would have to be negotiated under this bill as part of the 
collective bargaining agreement, just as they already do.
  Mr. Speaker, as I finish tonight, I just want to say again, as a mom, 
a working mom, a family where both parents work outside of the home, I 
certainly understand for some of us the time, our time, the time that 
has been accrued by an hourly wage employee, is more important than the 
cash wages. That may not be true for everybody. That remains in that 
the employee can determine what he or she wants to do with their time.
  Again, I am grateful for the many people who have worked so hard on 
this bill over the years. I am grateful for the opportunity to 
represent Alabama's Second District and to represent so many 
hardworking American families here tonight in this hour.
  I look forward to the debate tomorrow here on the floor on this bill. 
I would urge all of my colleagues to please vote in favor of H.R. 1180, 
the Working Families Flexibility Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________