Senator Elizabeth Warren has sounded the alarm on yet another bill Republicans just advanced to screw over the average American worker:
As the American Prospect details, the Working Families Flexibility Act is ‘fraud masquerading as flexibility’:
As the bill proposes, workers would have the option to get an hour and a half of paid time off in the future instead of cash for every hour of overtime worked—an option that public-sector employers have been able to offer since the 1980s as a means for cutting costs. Labor advocates say that voluntary comp time works in the public sector because, unlike the private sector, more workers are in unions and there’s no profit motive to coerce workers.
Here’s why it will end up being a disaster for the average worker:
Worker advocates, however, say that while Republicans wrap the bill in fluffy “flexibility” rhetoric, it would in reality erode the pillars supporting the 40-hour workweek and open up already vulnerable workers to more exploitation on the job. A key benefit of the FLSA’s overtime provision is that the pay premium beyond 40 hours disincentives employers from overworking their employees. If comp time instead of overtime pay is an option, employers could be driven to overwork employees while coercing them to opt in to comp time.
“Literally, this is a complete and total fraud,” says Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the Economic Policy Institute. “[The bill] doesn’t give any new rights to workers that they don’t have now. But it does give new rights to employers, including the right to not pay overtime in the week that it’s worked.”
Emphasis added. What’s worse, employers have ultimate veto power about when the comp time can be used.
Under the legislation, workers would theoretically be able to use their accrued comp time whenever they want. But there is a gigantic caveat: Employers can veto a worker’s request to use her comp time on a given day if they decide that it would “unduly disrupt” business, and instead offer a different date, days or weeks after her kid’s baseball game or parent’s doctor appointment has passed. The legal definition of “unduly disrupt” is quite broad and gives employers far more power over workers, who would have little recourse to contest comp-time disputes.
Zero democrats voted for this bill, which Senator Elizabeth Warren called a 'disgrace':
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, who is the top Democrat on the Senate HELP committee, said the bill doesn't put workers first.
"This is nothing but a recycled bad bill that would allow big corporations to make an end-run around giving workers the pay they've earned," Murray said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Republicans praised the bill, claiming it creates flexibility for workers.
"I don't think there's anything more powerful than giving them more control over their time so that they can make the best decisions for themselves and their families," Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington said Tuesday morning in a press conference held by Republican leaders in the House.
Are you kidding, Rep. McMorris? Workers want time and a half pay for overtime work, not vague comp hours they may or may not be able to take in the future.
Yep, you can chalk up another win for the swamp and big business. If this passes in the U.S. Senate, it will be another huge loss for the average American worker.