I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1180 

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

time for employees in the private sector. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 

Mrs. ROBY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce 

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 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMPENSATORY TIME. 

7 Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

8 (29 U.S.C. 207) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(s) COMPENSATORY TIME OFF FOR PRIVATE EM2 PLOYEES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—An employee may re4 ceive, in accordance with this subsection and in lieu 

5 of monetary overtime compensation, compensatory 

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

7 hours for each hour of employment for which over8 time compensation is required by this section. 

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

10 compensatory time to employees under paragraph 

11 (1)(A) only if such time is provided in accordance 

12 with— 

13 ‘‘(A) applicable provisions of a collective 

14 bargaining agreement between the employer 

15 and the labor organization that has been cer16 tified or recognized as the representative of the 

17 employees under applicable law; or 

18 ‘‘(B) in the case of employees who are not 

19 represented by a labor organization that has 

20 been certified or recognized as the representa21 tive of such employees under applicable law, an 

22 agreement arrived at between the employer and 

23 employee before the performance of the work 

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1 ble record maintained in accordance with sec2 tion 11(c)— 

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

4 and the employee has chosen to receive 

5 compensatory time in lieu of monetary 

6 overtime compensation; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) entered into knowingly and vol8 untarily by such employees and not as a 

9 condition of employment. 

10 No employee may receive or agree to receive com11 pensatory time off under this subsection unless the 

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

13 employee’s employer during a period of continuous 

14 employment with the employer in the 12-month pe15 riod before the date of agreement or receipt of com16 pensatory time off. 

17 ‘‘(3) HOUR LIMIT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) MAXIMUM HOURS.—An employee 

19 may accrue not more than 160 hours of com20 pensatory time. 

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

22 than January 31 of each calendar year, the em23 ployee’s employer shall provide monetary com24 pensation for any unused compensatory time off 

25 accrued during the preceding calendar year that 


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1 was not used prior to December 31 of the pre2 ceding year at the rate prescribed by paragraph 

3 (6). An employer may designate and commu4 nicate to the employer’s employees a 12-month 

5 period other than the calendar year, in which 

6 case such compensation shall be provided not 

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

8 month period. 

9 ‘‘(C) EXCESS OF 80 HOURS.—The em10 ployer may provide monetary compensation for 

11 an employee’s unused compensatory time in ex12 cess of 80 hours at any time after giving the 

13 employee at least 30 days notice. Such com14 pensation shall be provided at the rate pre15 scribed by paragraph (6). 

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

17 bargaining agreement provides otherwise, an 

18 employer that has adopted a policy offering 

19 compensatory time to employees may dis20 continue such policy upon giving employees 30 

21 days notice. 

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

23 may withdraw an agreement described in para24 graph (2)(B) at any time. An employee may 

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1 pensation be provided, at any time, for all com2 pensatory time accrued that has not yet been 

3 used. Within 30 days of receiving the written 

4 request, the employer shall provide the em5 ployee the monetary compensation due in ac6 cordance with paragraph (6). 

7 ‘‘(4) PRIVATE EMPLOYER ACTIONS.—An em8 ployer that provides compensatory time under para9 graph (1) to employees shall not directly or indi10 rectly intimidate, threaten, or coerce or attempt to 

11 intimidate, threaten, or coerce any employee for the 

12 purpose of— 

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

14 rights under this subsection to request or not 

15 request compensatory time off in lieu of pay16 ment of monetary overtime compensation for 

17 overtime hours; or 

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

19 compensatory time. 

20 ‘‘(5) TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT.—An em21 ployee who has accrued compensatory time off au22 thorized to be provided under paragraph (1) shall, 

23 upon the voluntary or involuntary termination of 

24 employment, be paid for the unused compensatory 

25 time in accordance with paragraph (6). 


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1 ‘‘(6) RATE OF COMPENSATION.— 

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

3 to be paid to an employee for accrued compen4 satory time off, such compensation shall be paid 

5 at a rate of compensation not less than— 

6 ‘‘(i) the regular rate received by such 

7 employee when the compensatory time was 

8 earned; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) the final regular rate received by 

10 such employee, 

11 whichever is higher. 

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

13 payment owed to an employee under this sub14 section for unused compensatory time shall be 

15 considered unpaid overtime compensation. 

16 ‘‘(7) USE OF TIME.—An employee— 

17 ‘‘(A) who has accrued compensatory time 

18 off authorized to be provided under paragraph 

19 (1); and 

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

21 compensatory time, 

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

23 such time within a reasonable period after making 

24 the request if the use of the compensatory time does 

25 not unduly disrupt the operations of the employer. 


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1 ‘‘(8) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub2 section— 

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

4 an employee of a public agency; and 

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

6 and ‘compensatory time’ shall have the mean7 ings given such terms by subsection (o)(7).’’. 

8 SEC. 3. REMEDIES. 

9 Section 16 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

10 (29 U.S.C. 216) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘(b) Any em12 ployer’’ and inserting ‘‘(b) Except as provided in 

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

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

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

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

17 rate of compensation (determined in accordance with sec18 tion 7(s)(6)(A)) for each hour of compensatory time ac19 crued by the employee and in an additional equal amount 

20 as liquidated damages reduced by the amount of such rate 

21 of compensation for each hour of compensatory time used 

22 by such employee.’’. 

23 SEC. 4. NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES. 

24 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

25 of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall revise the mateVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Feb 25, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1180.IH H1180

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1 rials the Secretary provides, under regulations published 

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

3 to employers for purposes of a notice explaining the Fair 

4 Labor Standards Act of 1938 to employees so that such 

5 notice reflects the amendments made to such Act by this 

6 Act. 

7 SEC. 5. GAO REPORT. 

8 Beginning 2 years after the date of enactment of this 

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

10 General shall submit a report to Congress providing, with 

11 respect to the reporting period immediately prior to each 

12 such report— 

13 (1) data concerning the extent to which employ14 ers provide compensatory time pursuant to section 

15 7(s) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as 

16 added by this Act, and the extent to which employ17 ees opt to receive compensatory time; 

18 (2) the number of complaints alleging a viola19 tion of such section filed by any employee with the 

20 Secretary of Labor; 

21 (3) the number of enforcement actions com22 menced by the Secretary or commenced by the Sec23 retary on behalf of any employee for alleged viola24 tions of such section; 


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1 (4) the disposition or status of such complaints 

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

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

4 penalties, injunctive relief, or other remedies ob5 tained or sought by the Secretary in connection with 

6 such actions described in paragraph (3). 

7 SEC. 6. SUNSET. 

8 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

9 expire 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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