Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013

Floor Speech

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert my statement into the Record opposing the GOP's disrespectful Mother's Day gift--more work and less pay for working moms. Happy Mother's Day.

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 1406, the misnamed ``Working Families Flexibility Act.'' This bill would take away critical overtime pay from families still struggling from the effects of the Great Recession. It might provide more flexibility for some businesses, but it would create real hardship for everyone else.

Under this bill, employers could offer comp time to replace earned time-and-a-half wages for overtime. But workers who opt for that time off would not be guaranteed to get it when they want it--employers would have the right to deny comp time off requests, even if the request was needed for a personal or family emergency. Employers could dictate when you got your comp time--and they could make those decisions unilaterally. If you want to take comp time to care for a loved one or see your daughter in a school play, your employer can say no. And you have no right to appeal. And if the business closes or lays you off before you have a chance to use your comp time, you get nothing at all.

Under this bill, a worker would have the option of foregoing overtime pay and hoping that sometime in the future she can get time off when she needs it, not when it's convenient for her employer. That's option one--work more and get paid less. Or she can take option two: demand overtime pay and find out that another worker--one who is willing to accept the employer's offer of future comp time--is given the extra hours.

That unfairness is the reason that over 160 organizations representing working women oppose H.R. 1406--groups like Jewish Women International, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the National Council of Women's Organizations, Wider Opportunities for Women, the National Women's Law Center, and the National Partnership for Women and Families.

The U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce also opposes this bill. Their CEO Margot Dorfman writes, ``H.R. 1406 would reward those employees who agree to ``comp time'' in lieu of overtime payments. Employers incentivized by a reduced payroll might well give ``comp time'' employees the preferred shifts, the needed hours, and the promotions. There is no protection in H.R. 1406 against this kind of employer behavior.''

The American Sustainable Business Council and Restaurant Opportunities Center United joins in opposition to H.R. 1406, because it ``would create headaches for any employer who must track banked hours across multiple employees.'' They add, it ``becomes a scheduling and accounting challenge when employees decide to trade in banked hours, requiring business owners to make unexpected shifts in personnel and paychecks. Obviously, small businesses with fewer resources and employees would be even harder hit by these enormous logistics than larger corporations.''

It's true that working women and men need greater flexibility and the ability to balance family and job obligations. That's why today we should be debating the Healthy Families Act to guarantee paid sick leave. We should be debating expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act to provide the paid leave needed to allow working women and men to address family needs.

Instead, the Republican majority has decided to bring this bill to the floor--a bill that threatens overtime pay and gives employers more ability to determine schedules for their workers. That is no solution for working families.

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