House Committee Approves Comp-Time Bill After Rejecting Paid Leave and Other Amendments

Employee Relations, Employment Law

This week, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved along party lines the Working Families Flexibility Act after defeating an amendment that would have substituted a paid sick leave mandate along the lines of the Healthy Families Act.  H.R. 1406 would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to let private sector employers offer compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay.  Despite defeat of the paid sick leave amendment, Judith Lichtman, senior adviser to the National Partnership for Women and Families, pointed to a “silver lining” noting that “this is the first time the [sick leave] bill has been considered by a congressional committee.”  The Committee also rejected an amendment by Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) that would have only allowed comp-time agreements between employers and employees if they included “employment protections substantially similar to those provided to federal, state or local employees under civil service laws,” including protections from being terminated except for cause.  Responding to criticisms of the bill by Committee Democrats, Chairman John Kline (R-MN) emphasized that the bill “includes numerous employee protections to ensure the voluntary use of comp time.”  Arguing against the bill, Ranking Democrat George Miller (D-CA) asserted: “Effectively, this bill asks workers to work extra hours and give their employers an interest-free loan . . . This doesn't make life work, it makes life worse.”  The bill is likely to come to the House floor in coming weeks as part of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's "make life work" agenda.