As Family Friendly As A Cholera Epidemic

Our congresswoman, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, is one of the primary sponsors of the Working Families FlexibilityAct of 2013.

The flexibility this bill gives working families is truly noteworthy. Here are some excerpts:

(1) GENERAL RULE- An employee may receive, in accordance with this subsection and in lieu of monetary overtime compensation, compensatory time off at a rate not less than one and one-half hours for each hour of employment for which overtime compensation is required by this section. (2) CONDITIONS- An employer may provide compensatory time to employees under paragraph (1)(A) only if such time is provided in accordance with--
(A) applicable provisions of a collective bargaining agreement between the employer and the labor organization that has been certified or recognized as the representative of the employees under applicable law; or
(B) in the case of employees who are not represented by a labor organization that has been certified or recognized as the representative of such employees under applicable law, an agreement arrived at between the employer and employee before the performance of the work and affirmed by a written or otherwise verifiable record maintained in accordance with section 11(c)--
(i) in which the employer has offered and the employee has chosen to receive compensatory time in lieu of monetary overtime compensation; and

(ii) entered into knowingly and voluntarily by such employees and not as a condition of employment.
No employee may receive or agree to receive compensatory time off under this subsection unless the employee has worked at least 1,000 hours for the employee's employer during a period of continuous employment with the employer in the 12-month period before the date of agreement or receipt of compensatory time off.

(4) PRIVATE EMPLOYER ACTIONS- An employer that provides compensatory time under paragraph (1) to employees shall not directly or indirectly intimidate, threaten, or coerce or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any employee for the purpose of--
(A) interfering with such employee's rights under this subsection to request or not request compensatory time off in lieu of payment of monetary overtime compensation for overtime hours; or
(B) requiring any employee to use such compensatory time.
...
(f) An employer that violates section 7(s)(4) shall be liable to the employee affected in the amount of the rate of compensation (determined in accordance with section 7(s)(6)(A)) for each hour of compensatory time accrued by the employee and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages reduced by the amount of such rate of compensation for each hour of compensatory time used by such employee.

Employers will thank her for the
flexibility so you don't have to.

The flexibility this legislation provides, essentially, is the employee gets to work overtime without being paid for it. Their pay is converted to comp time, which the employee can take "within a reasonable amount period...if the use of compensatory time does not unduly disrupt the operations of the employer." 

The employer receives all the flexibility provided by this act. The actual payment for working overtime is delayed, so it's like the employee is giving the employer an interest-free loan. Then the employee gets to take comp time when the employer says so.

Honestly, what low-wage, non-union working family wouldn't want the flexibility of a pay check that doesn't include overtime pay and the ability to take comp time when the boss says so?