House Passes Bill to Allow Employees to Swap OT For Comp Time

By Eric B. Meyer

Earlier this week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 223-204 to pass the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013, which would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to permit employers to provide compensatory time off in lieu of monetary compensation for overtime hours worked.

Presently, through the Federal Employees Flexible and Compressed Work Schedules Act, only state and federal employees may receive comp time in lieu of overtime (OT).

Specifically, the Working Families Flexibility Act authorizes compensatory time off at a rate of no less than one and one half hours for each hour of overtime worked. Under the FLSA, employers must pay OT at a rate of no less than one and one half the employee’s regular rate of pay.

Republicans contended the measure would allow parents to spend more time with their children. House Democratic Whip, Steny Hoyer, D-MD, has hyperbolized that the Working Families Flexibility Act “would eliminate the 40-hour work week as we know it.”

It should come as no shock, then, that House passage of the Working Families Flexibility Act was basically along party lines. And, even if it somehow passes the Senate, President Obama would likely veto the bill.

This was originally published on Eric B. Meyer’s blog, The Employer Handbook.