General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRepublicans in both houses of Congress introduce Orwellian "Working Families Flexibility Act"
The bill:
-Gives private-sector employers the ability to offer their employees the option of comp time or overtime pay, both accrued at 112
times the overtime hours worked. Federal, State & local governments are currently allowed to offer comp time to their employees, but private-sector employers are banned from doing so by federal law.
-Requires employers who decide to offer this option to their employees to establish a written agreement with the employee outlining the options and to allow each employee to voluntarily choose the option that best fits his needs.
-Requires that comp time agreements be included in the collective bargaining agreement negotiated between the union and the employer for any employee represented by a union.
-Allows employees who choose to accrue comp time to accrue up to 160 hours each year.'
-Allows employees to cash out their accrued comp time at the traditional overtime pay rate at any time throughout the year.
-Maintains all existing employee protections, including the current 40-hour workweek and overtime accrual, and provides additional safeguards to ensure that the choice to use comp time is voluntary.
-Requires employers to pay employees at the traditional overtime rate for any unused comp time at the end of each calendar year.
-Ends the unfair discrimination against private-sector employees
-Enables parents to better balance work and family obligations
-Frees all workers to choose which commodity time or money is the more important resource at a given time
-Lessens the burden of unnecessary federal regulation
http://www.lanereport.com/43752/2015/01/sen-mcconnell-introduces-working-family-flexibility-act/
Doing some quick research, I found that this is not the first time that the Republicans in Congress have introduced this bill.
From April 2013:
Whats worse?The bill ends time-and-a-half overtime pay for hourly and non-exempt workers as we know it, giving renewed incentive for businesses to work their employees as long as they want with near impunity.
In other words, the bill does the opposite of what House Republicans say it will.
snip:
With comp time, employers are encouraged to do the opposite. Making overtime less expensive to employers means more workers being scheduled for 50 or 60-hour shifts. Which means less time with your family not more.
Comp time encourages mandatory overtime and ends overtime pay as we know it. Instead of time-and-a-half pay for hours worked past 40, workers would get comp time, hours of time off to be taken later. Employers benefit because they dont have to pay overtime, plus, they can have you use your comp time in a way that wont cost them extra (during less busy periods, etc.).
According to the bill, individual employees have the choice between comp time or overtime pay. Since comp time saves the employer money, what is stopping them from inducing workers, subtly or not, into choosing comp time? They could give the comp time workers better shifts and better treatment, and they could even train workers not to take the overtime options in the same way that Target and other stores train workers not to join unions.
Dont be fooled: this is a pay cut. Again, having hours off at some point sounds nice. But overall, workers take home pay will go down, because that supplemental income you wouldve had from working overtime will disappear. Besides, depending on your schedule, you could get to December 31 without having the chance to use your accrued comp time, at which point you are left with no time off and no extra pay.
More here: http://blog.workingamerica.org/2013/04/26/7-things-you-should-know-about-comp-time-and-the-working-families-flexibility-act/
Gotta hand it to the Republicans...they certainly know how to make draconian right-wing policies sound great! "Working Families Flexibility?" Who could object to a title like that? Well, if it sounds too good to be true....it probably is.
daleanime
(17,796 posts)Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)VanillaRhapsody
(21,115 posts)if people think they will let you accrue it....those people have another think coming...
A Little Weird
(1,754 posts)But there is an upper limit on how much you can save (I've never even come close). If it gets too high, then your hours get limited and/or you're forced to cash some of it out. Comp time isn't horrible (at least where I work), but I would much rather make time-and-a-half pay.
Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)elleng
(131,144 posts)Last edited Sun Jan 25, 2015, 01:37 AM - Edit history (1)
'know how to make draconian right-wing policies sound great,' and do it all the time. It's called 'framing.' For example,
Pro-LIFE!
Right to Work!
AngryDem001
(684 posts)Have I told you lately how much I hate these people?
silvershadow
(10,336 posts)airplaneman
(1,240 posts)In the beginning if I worked over 40 hours I got comp time that I was actually allowed to take.
Later on it was more like a crime to ask for your comp time and maybe I got 50% or so but wound up never getting it all.
The current model is your going to put in lots of extra time or you will not be considered a team player. They don't even use the words comp time as you are not getting any time off with pay regardless of how much extra time you put in.
-Airplane
AZ Progressive
(3,411 posts)There is nothing too crazy for the Republicans to want.