Working Families Flexibility Act Passes House

The bill would give employers the option to convert the overtime hours of nonunion employees into time off. It has the support of two contractors' associations.

On May 8, the House of Representatives passed, by a vote of 223-204, a bill that would allow private-sector workers to trade in overtime hours for requests for unpaid time off.

Titled the Working Families Flexibility Act, the bill was supported by numerous organizations including the Associated Builders and Contractors and the Associated General Contractors of America.

Under the bill, employers would have the option to decide whether to allow nonunion employees to trade overtime hours for time off, and the employers would have the final say in providing time off to workers who have given up their overtime hours. The bill states that time off would be permitted to an employee who has accrued time and put in a written request if the employer determines that "the use of the compensatory time does not unduly disrupt the operations of the employer."

According to its detractors, the bill would force workers to make a choice between overtime pay that they might rely on and time off that they may never be able to take advantage of because the time off would be controlled by the employer.

However, an employer could not string out the potential time off for too long, as any unused time would have to be paid in full at the end of the year.