I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5656 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide compensatory 

time for employees in the private sector. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 17, 2020 

Mrs. ROBY (for herself, Ms. FOXX of North Carolina, Mr. DAVID P. ROE of 

Tennessee, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. BYRNE, 

Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. WALKER, Mr. TAYLOR, Mr. JOHNSON

of South Dakota, Mr. SMITH of Nebraska, Mr. BROOKS of Alabama, Mrs. 

RODGERS of Washington, and Ms. STEFANIK) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide 

compensatory time for employees in the private sector. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Working Families 

5 Flexibility Act of 2020’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. COMPENSATORY TIME. 

2 Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

3 (29 U.S.C. 207) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(s) COMPENSATORY TIME OFF FOR PRIVATE EM6 PLOYEES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—An employee may re8 ceive, in accordance with this subsection and in lieu 

9 of monetary overtime compensation, compensatory 

10 time off at a rate not less than one and one-half 

11 hours for each hour of employment for which over12 time compensation is required by this section. 

13 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—An employer may provide 

14 compensatory time to employees under paragraph 

15 (1) only if such time is provided in accordance 

16 with— 

17 ‘‘(A) applicable provisions of a collective 

18 bargaining agreement between the employer 

19 and the labor organization that has been cer20 tified or recognized as the representative of the 

21 employees under applicable law; or 

22 ‘‘(B) in the case of an employee who is not 

23 represented by a labor organization that has 

24 been certified or recognized as the representa25 tive of such employee under applicable law, an 

26 agreement arrived at between the employer and 

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1 employee before the performance of the work 

2 and affirmed by a written or otherwise verifi3 able record maintained in accordance with sec4 tion 11(c)— 

5 ‘‘(i) in which the employer has offered 

6 and the employee has chosen to receive 

7 compensatory time in lieu of monetary 

8 overtime compensation; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) entered into knowingly and vol10 untarily by such employee and not as a 

11 condition of employment. 

12 No employee may receive or agree to receive com13 pensatory time off under this subsection unless the 

14 employee has worked at least 1,000 hours for the 

15 employee’s employer during a period of continuous 

16 employment with the employer in the 12-month pe17 riod before the date of agreement or receipt of com18 pensatory time off. 

19 ‘‘(3) HOUR LIMIT.— 

20 ‘‘(A) MAXIMUM HOURS.—An employee 

21 may accrue not more than 160 hours of com22 pensatory time. 

23 ‘‘(B) COMPENSATION DATE.—Not later 

24 than January 31 of each calendar year, the em25 ployee’s employer shall provide monetary comVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jan 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5656.IH H5656
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1 pensation for any unused compensatory time off 

2 accrued during the preceding calendar year that 

3 was not used prior to December 31 of the pre4 ceding year at the rate prescribed by paragraph 

5 (6). An employer may designate and commu6 nicate to the employer’s employees a 12-month 

7 period other than the calendar year, in which 

8 case such compensation shall be provided not 

9 later than 31 days after the end of such 12- 

10 month period. 

11 ‘‘(C) EXCESS OF 80 HOURS.—The em12 ployer may provide monetary compensation for 

13 an employee’s unused compensatory time in ex14 cess of 80 hours at any time after giving the 

15 employee at least 30 days notice. Such com16 pensation shall be provided at the rate pre17 scribed by paragraph (6). 

18 ‘‘(D) POLICY.—Except where a collective 

19 bargaining agreement provides otherwise, an 

20 employer that has adopted a policy offering 

21 compensatory time to employees may dis22 continue such policy upon giving employees 30 

23 days notice. 

24 ‘‘(E) WRITTEN REQUEST.—An employee 

25 may withdraw an agreement described in paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jan 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5656.IH H5656
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1 graph (2)(B) at any time. An employee may 

2 also request in writing that monetary com3 pensation be provided, at any time, for all com4 pensatory time accrued that has not yet been 

5 used. Within 30 days of receiving the written 

6 request, the employer shall provide the em7 ployee the monetary compensation due in ac8 cordance with paragraph (6). 

9 ‘‘(4) PRIVATE EMPLOYER ACTIONS.—An em10 ployer that provides compensatory time under para11 graph (1) to an employee shall not directly or indi12 rectly intimidate, threaten, or coerce or attempt to 

13 intimidate, threaten, or coerce any employee for the 

14 purpose of— 

15 ‘‘(A) interfering with such employee’s 

16 rights under this subsection to request or not 

17 request compensatory time off in lieu of pay18 ment of monetary overtime compensation for 

19 overtime hours; or 

20 ‘‘(B) requiring any employee to use such 

21 compensatory time. 

22 ‘‘(5) TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT.—An em23 ployee who has accrued compensatory time off au24 thorized to be provided under paragraph (1) shall, 

25 upon the voluntary or involuntary termination of 

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1 employment, be paid for the unused compensatory 

2 time in accordance with paragraph (6). 

3 ‘‘(6) RATE OF COMPENSATION.— 

4 ‘‘(A) GENERAL RULE.—If compensation is 

5 to be paid to an employee for accrued compen6 satory time off, such compensation shall be paid 

7 at a rate of compensation not less than— 

8 ‘‘(i) the regular rate earned by such 

9 employee when the compensatory time was 

10 accrued; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) the regular rate earned by such 

12 employee at the time such employee re13 ceived payment of such compensation, 

14 whichever is higher. 

15 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION OF PAYMENT.—Any 

16 payment owed to an employee under this sub17 section for unused compensatory time shall be 

18 considered unpaid overtime compensation. 

19 ‘‘(7) USE OF TIME.—An employee— 

20 ‘‘(A) who has accrued compensatory time 

21 off authorized to be provided under paragraph 

22 (1); and 

23 ‘‘(B) who has requested the use of such 

24 compensatory time, 

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1 shall be permitted by the employee’s employer to use 

2 such time within a reasonable period after making 

3 the request if the use of the compensatory time does 

4 not unduly disrupt the operations of the employer. 

5 ‘‘(8) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub6 section— 

7 ‘‘(A) the term ‘employee’ does not include 

8 an employee of a public agency; and 

9 ‘‘(B) the terms ‘overtime compensation’ 

10 and ‘compensatory time’ shall have the mean11 ings given such terms by subsection (o)(7).’’. 

12 SEC. 3. REMEDIES. 

13 Section 16 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

14 (29 U.S.C. 216) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘(b) Any em16 ployer’’ and inserting ‘‘(b) Except as provided in 

17 subsection (f), any employer’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(f) An employer that violates section 7(s)(4) shall 

20 be liable to the employee affected in the amount of the 

21 rate of compensation (determined in accordance with sec22 tion 7(s)(6)(A)) for each hour of compensatory time ac23 crued by the employee and in an additional equal amount 

24 as liquidated damages reduced by the amount of such rate 

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1 of compensation for each hour of compensatory time used 

2 by such employee.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES. 

4 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall revise the mate6 rials the Secretary provides, under regulations published 

7 in section 516.4 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, 

8 to employers for purposes of a notice explaining the Fair 

9 Labor Standards Act of 1938 to employees so that such 

10 notice reflects the amendments made to such Act by this 

11 Act. 

12 SEC. 5. GAO REPORT. 

13 Beginning 2 years after the date of enactment of this 

14 Act and each of the 3 years thereafter, the Comptroller 

15 General of the United States shall submit a report to Con16 gress providing, with respect to the reporting period imme17 diately prior to each such report— 

18 (1) data concerning the extent to which employ19 ers provide compensatory time pursuant to section 

20 7(s) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as 

21 added by this Act, and the extent to which employ22 ees opt to receive compensatory time; 

23 (2) the number of complaints alleging a viola24 tion of such section filed by any employee with the 

25 Secretary of Labor; 

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1 (3) the number of enforcement actions com2 menced by the Secretary or commenced by the Sec3 retary on behalf of any employee for alleged viola4 tions of such section; 

5 (4) the disposition or status of such complaints 

6 and actions described in paragraphs (2) and (3); and 

7 (5) an account of any unpaid wages, damages, 

8 penalties, injunctive relief, or other remedies ob9 tained or sought by the Secretary in connection with 

10 such actions described in paragraph (3). 

11 SEC. 6. SUNSET. 

12 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

13 cease to be in effect on the date that is 5 years after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act. 

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