The Honorable Donna F. Edwards
H.R. 1406, the Working Families Flexibility Act
May 8, 2013
Mr. Speaker, today I rise in opposition to H.R. 1406, the deceptively-named, Working Families Flexibility Act – or, as I call it, The Working Families to Death Act. This bill – which is really an old, recycled idea from 1997 – would allow employers to provide hourly workers with comp time rather than paying time-and-a-half on wages for more than 40 hours of work. Simply, for hourly workers, this bill equals more work for less pay.
Republicans have stated that “hourly workers do not have the same rights that salaried employees and all federal employees have.” And that they are “trying to make equity and fairness.” Further, they highlight that “flexible work arrangements have been available to federal government workers since 1978” and “it is high time that the workers in the private sector of this country enjoy the same benefits.”
Can you guess when those statements were made? Not this week or last week but in 1997 and 2003. Today’s latest attempt to pass this “comp time” bill is part of the GOP’s rebrand to become more family-friendly. The bill’s sponsor stated, “time is more precious to [a working father] than the cash payments.”
In reality, this bill creates more flexibility for employers and places workers at risk of being fired if they choose overtime pay to help meet their obligations rather than comp time. I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill and work on policies that provide true, earned flexibility and fair wages for all workers.
