The initial response was disbelief. Republicans in Congress voting for workers’ rights? REPUBLICANS are also misguided if they think the Flexibility Act is all that business-friendly. Unlike the federal government — which is the model from which they devised the plan — the private sector has payroll to meet and a product to produce.
“This pro-worker, pro-family bill will help get Washington out of the way and empower hardworking Kansans by giving them more control over their work schedules and more freedom to be there for their families,” Rep. Lynn Jenkins wrote in her most recent newsletter to constituents.
She was referring to her vote for the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013, which passed with a lopsided margin of 220 Republicans and three Democrats.
The act, Jenkins said, will allow employees to exchange being paid time-and-a-half for overtime for compensatory time so they could go to their child’s soccer game, if they want.
“As a working mom I understand the challenge parents face when balancing family and work responsibilities,” Jenkins said.
In truth, the legislation is family-friendly only if your children are grown and out of the house, and only if you don’t care when the comp time happens.
Jenkins failed to mention employers will have discretion as to when employees can take the comp time, which may or may not coincide with Susie’s soccer game. Jenkins also omitted the legislation fails to have any safeguards for employees, such as if an employer discriminates against an employee who would prefer to have the extra cash, thank you, instead of the extra free time. The legislation, in fact, overwhelmingly favors an employer by giving him leverage to direct overtime to those employees who take it as comp time and short-changing those who need the overtime work as added income.
Why is it not surprising Congress doesn’t understand that most people don’t have the means to forego the extra income of overtime, even though yes, of course, they would like to see their child play ball. Truth is, they feel a greater responsibility to put food on the table. For most, overtime pay is figured into their take-home pay, and not as a bonus.
Most businesses can ill afford a loss of production and the scheduling nightmare the Flexibility Act could cause. It’s a sure thing Billy’s ball game is going to interfere with second-shift production at Gates.
In essence, the Flexibility Act, which now goes to the Senate, puts employers and employees in a bind. If you want to help the American worker, raise the minimum wage to be a living wage. Then there’d be no need for this kind of legislation where nobody wins.
— Susan Lynn
Flexibility Act puts workers and employers in bind
