Empowering Employer Child and Elder Care Solutions Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, Pursuant to House Resolution 988, I call up the bill (H.R. 2270) to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exclude child and dependent care services and payments from the rate used to compute overtime compensation, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

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Mr. WALBERG. 2270.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Empowering Employer Child and Elder Care Solutions Act, a bipartisan proposal that meets working families where they are and strengthens our economy at the same time.

Across this country, millions of Americans are doing two full-time jobs at once. They are employees striving to be productive and dependable at work, and they are caregivers--parents of young children, sons and daughters caring for aging parents, or both. These responsibilities do not disappear when the workday begins. They shape whether a worker can show up on time, stay focused, or remain in the workforce at all.

Along with many other affordability challenges, the increasing cost of child and dependent care is a serious issue facing our country. Parents leave jobs they want to keep. Caregivers turn down promotions or reduce hours. Businesses lose skilled workers, productivity declines, and the entire economy pays the price.

Many employers want to provide child and elder care for their employees, but the law discourages them from doing so by asserting that routinely provided childcare must be included in an hourly employee's regular pay rates.

The Empowering Employer Child and Elder Care Solutions Act removes this longstanding obstacle for employers wishing to provide these highly valued accommodations to their workforce and aligns the treatment of these pro-family benefits with other employer-provided benefits.

For workers, employer-supported care can be the difference between staying in the job or being forced out of the workforce. It reduces stress, improves mental health, and allows parents and caregivers to focus on their work, knowing their loved ones are safe and supported.

Supporting caregivers should not be a partisan issue. Every one of us represents constituents who are struggling and juggling with the work that they have and the care that they give.

Every district in every State has employers struggling to attract and retain workers because care options are limited or unaffordable.

The Empowering Employer Child and Elder Care Solutions Act sends a clear message: We value work. We value family. We understand that the two are deeply connected.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, not only because it is good policy but because it reflects the lived reality of millions of Americans who are doing their very best every day to care for their families and contribute to our economy.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I would make mention that for gym memberships offered by an employer and other benefits, health insurance benefits, they aren't calculated in overtime either.

This brings us together on those issues. In fact, I believe it makes certain that there is more opportunity for small businesses especially to have the ability to have dollars that could be put toward the childcare.

He is also a member of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.

My colleague on the other side of the aisle has said this bill is an assault on working families. That could not be further from the truth.

H.R. 2270 is a narrowly tailored solution to the growing challenge working families are facing when it comes to childcare. I fail to see, again, how excluding the value of an employer-sponsored childcare subsidy in the calculation of an employee's regular rate will result in lower take-home pay as my colleagues have said on the other side.

The issue this legislation attempts to fix is that in many cases, employers are currently unable to offer childcare to employees due to the prohibitively high overtime cost.

H.R. 2270 rights that wrong by excluding child and dependent care from regular rate calculations as has been done several times, as I mentioned earlier, for other benefits and bonuses because Congress rightly saw that, without exclusion, employers would not be able to do more for their employees even as they want to.

This bill enhances the opportunity for the care that we need for childcare as well as dependent care.

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Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I know I spent my opening remarks discussing how the Empowering Employer Child and Elder Care Solutions Act helps empower working families. In closing, I would like to highlight how access to affordable childcare benefits job creators and our Nation's economy.

For employers, the return on investment is well documented. Companies that offer care solutions see lower turnover, reduced absenteeism, and higher employer/employee engagement. In a competitive labor market, the ability to offer these benefits is vital to attracting and retaining talent and ensuring American businesses remain competitive at home and abroad.

For our economy, the stakes could not be higher. Labor force participation, particularly among women, continues to be constrained by caregiving responsibilities. When caregivers are sidelined, we lose talent, experience, and economic growth potential. This bill helps remove one of the biggest barriers to keeping willing workers on the sidelines and strengthens our overall economic resilience.

This legislation also recognizes that caregiving does not end with childhood. As our population ages, more workers are caring for elderly parents or relatives. Eldercare challenges can be just as disruptive and unpredictable as childcare needs, and yet they are often overlooked in policy decisions.

This bill addresses both, reflecting the real-life responsibilities families face. This is a smart use of policy to align incentives with outcomes we all support: stronger families, a more resilient workforce, and a healthier economy. Let's give employers the tools to help give workers the support they need and move our country forward.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Messmer for bringing this bill before us. I encourage my colleagues to support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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