Senate Floor Speech
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
March 27, 2001 -- Page: S2992

MRS. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I rise today to join with my colleague, Senator Gregg from New Hampshire to introduce the Workplace Flexibility Act to give America's families the kinds of choices and options they demand and deserve.

When I speak with hourly wage workers in my home state of Texas, and I ask them how they are coping with the growing and competing demands of work and family, I hear many different answers. I hear stories of parents working days and nights to pay the bills and maybe even get a little bit ahead.

Today we introduce legislation to deal with some of the workplace problems of Americans who are paid by the hour. Every day, millions of people in this country must punch a time clock, and they never seem to have enough time they need to get things done, much less the time they would like to have to spend on home and family. Despite the fact that hourly wage earners have the greatest time and money pressures on them, the federal government gives them the least amount of flexibility in scheduling their work week.

While salaried, or so-called "exempt'' workers can bargain with their employers to work additional hours in one week in order to take time off later, hourly or "non-exempt'' workers do not have that privilege. The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits them from benefitting from the additional scheduling options that salaried workers enjoy and that Congress gave to all federal employees back in 1978.

It is time to end this inequity in our nation's labor laws. It is time to give all American workers the ability to choose work schedules to fit their own home and family needs.

The Workplace Flexibility Act will do just that. The bill restores fairness in workplace scheduling by giving hourly wage earners three new scheduling and overtime options.

First, where an employer requires an employee to work overtime, any hours in excess of 40 in a week, the bill would give that employee the option of choosing paid time-and-a-half off in lieu of time and a half pay. So, for example, an employee who works 10 hours of overtime would have earned 15 hours of paid time off for later use. This is called "comp time.''

Second, for those employees who do not typically work overtime, which, by the way, encompasses over 90 percent of the women who are now paid by the hour, the bill would allow employees to choose to work more than 40 hours in one week in exchange for the same amount of paid time off in another week. This is called "flex time.''

Finally, the bill will give employees and employers the option of establishing regular two week schedules to allow an employee to work additional hours in week one in order to take paid time off in week two. For example, many federal employees enjoy working 9-hour days and taking every alternate Friday off, with pay, for a total at the end of two weeks of 80 hours. I think it is only right to give private sector workers the flexibility that these federal employees now enjoy.

Polls show that Americans overwhelmingly support being given these added options. Three fourths of federal employees say comp time and flextime have given them more time to spend with their families and have improved their morale and even their productivity. President Clinton's own polling firm found recently that the same proportion of Americans, 75 percent, favor expanding these options to all private sector employees. It is easy to understand why.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, both mother and father work outside the home in almost two thirds of American households. Moreover, 75 percent of mothers with school age children are now in the workforce, up dramatically in recent years. While the causes for this are many, including expanded work opportunities for women and a heavy tax burden on working families, the results are clear: fewer hours are spent by mothers and fathers with their children and with each other. This shrinking window of family time is weakening the essential family bond that is the bedrock of our strength as a nation.

Not only will our bill make it easier for parents to spend more quality time at home or engaged in personal or community activities, it will do so without a hit to the monthly bottom line. Since comp time and flex time are paid, workers will receive the same amount of money as they would if they did not have these options. The only difference is that this legislation will allow workers the flexibility of taking a day, a week, or even a month off once they have accumulated time in their bank.

Let me make one point very clear: the Workplace Flexibility Act expands, but does not replace the existing law requiring overtime pay for overtime work. For those employees required to work overtime, they will always have the option of receiving overtime pay at the standard time-and-a-half rate. This bill simply affords the employee additional options, upon the mutual agreement of the employee and employer. An employer who violates this or any other provision of our labor laws would be subject to severe civil fines and possibly even prison. In fact, this bill heightens those protections by providing for quadruple damages against an employer who violates the law.

But rather than foster antagonism between labor and management, these added scheduling options have been proven both in this country and abroad to encourage greater cooperation between employees and their employers. Flexible scheduling has created win-win situations for millions of salaried and federal workers and their employers. For the first time in 50 years, America's blue collar working men and women will be empowered to help determine the course of their work week. And thereby, workers will be given greater control over the most precious asset in their lives and in the lives of their families: time.

I urge my colleagues to respond to the growing need for workplace flexibility by supporting the Workplace Flexibility Act.