Chamber Supports Greater Flexibility for Workers

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Chamber of Commerce today expressed its support for the Family Time Flexibility Act (H.R. 1119), which would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to allow private sector employers to offer their workers a choice between the usual overtime wages or extra paid time off. This is a choice that has been available in the public sector for years.

Testifying before the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections on behalf of the Chamber, Houston Williams, Chairman and CEO of PNS, Inc., and member of the Chamber Board of Directors and Small Business Council, described how the workplace has changed since the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act over 60 years ago.

"When the FLSA was enacted, the workforce consisted mostly of men. It was atypical for households with young children to have both parents work outside of the home. But today, a greater percentage of employees who work overtime are women, there are more dual-wage earner couples in the workforce, and there are more single mothers in the workforce. These demographic changes in the workforce are a major reason why today many more employees view time off as valuable or more valuable than cash payments for overtime work."

The Family Time Flexibility Act has many protections to ensure that the choice on the part of the employee would be voluntary and that the bill's inclusion of a five-year sunset date would allow the Congress to adjust the legislation and solve any problems that might arise, according to the Chamber.

"Given the compelling need for more flexibility in the workplace, the worst thing Congress can do is to do nothing," Williams concluded.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region.

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