I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2723
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to permit employers to
provide for flexible and compressed schedules, to permit employers to
give priority treatment in hiring decisions to former employees after
periods of family care responsibility, to maintain the minimum wage
and overtime exemption for employees subject to certain leave policies,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
DECEMBER 6, 1995
Mr. DOOLITTLE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities
A BILL
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to permit
employers to provide for flexible and compressed sched-
ules, to permit employers to give priority treatment in
hiring decisions to former employees after periods of
family care responsibility, to maintain the minimum wage
and overtime exemption for employees subject to certain
leave policies, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Work and Family Inte-
gration Act’’.
SEC. 2. FLEXIBLE AND COMPRESSED SCHEDULES AND RE-
HIRING PREFERENCE.
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 is amended
by inserting after section 13 (29 U.S.C. 213) the following
new sections:
‘‘SEC. 13A. FLEXIBLE AND COMPRESSED SCHEDULES.
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to bal-
ance the demands of workplaces with the needs of families
in the United States.
‘‘(b) COMPRESSED SCHEDULES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, an employer may establish pro-
grams that allow the use of a compressed schedule
that consists of—
‘‘(A) in the case of a schedule of a full-
time employee, a 160-hour basic work require-
ment, over a 4-week period, that is scheduled
for less than 20 workdays; and
‘‘(B) in the case of a schedule of a part-
time employee, a basic work requirement of less
than 160 hours, over a 4-week period, that is
scheduled for less than 20 workdays.
‘‘(2) OVERTIME COMPENSATION PROVISIONS.—
Section 7 and any other provision of law that relates
to premium pay for overtime work shall not apply to
the hours that constitute such a compressed sched-
ule.
‘‘(3) COMPUTATION OF OVERTIME.—In the case
of any full-time employee, hours worked in excess of
such a compressed schedule shall be overtime hours
and shall be paid for as provided by the applicable
provisions referred to in paragraph (2). In the case
of any part-time employee on such a compressed
schedule, overtime pay shall begin to be paid after
the same number of hours of work after which a
full-time employee on a similar schedule would begin
to receive overtime pay.
‘‘(c) FLEXIBLE SCHEDULES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, an employer may establish pro-
grams that allow the use of flexible schedules that
include—
‘‘(A) designated hours and days during
which an employee on such a schedule must be
present for work; and
‘‘(B) designated hours during which an
employee on such a schedule may elect the time
of the arrival of such employee at and depar-
ture of such employee from work, solely for
such purpose or, if and to the extent permitted,
for the purpose of accumulating credit hours to
reduce the length of the workweek or another
workday.
‘‘(2) OVERTIME COMPENSATION PROVISIONS.—
For purposes of determining compensation for over-
time hours in the case of an employee participating
in a program under this subsection—
‘‘(A) the employer may, on request of the
employee, grant the employee compensatory
time off in lieu of payment for such overtime
hours, whether or not irregular or occasional in
nature and notwithstanding section 7 or any
other provision of law; or
‘‘(B) the employee shall be compensated
for such overtime hours in accordance with such
provisions, as applicable.
‘‘(3) COMPUTATION
OF
OVERTIME.—Notwith-
standing the provisions of law referred to in para-
graph (2)(A), an employee shall not be entitled to be
compensated for credit hours worked except to the
extent such employee is allowed to have such hours
taken into account with respect to the basic work re-
quirement of the employee.
‘‘(4) ACCUMULATION AND COMPENSATION.—
‘‘(A) ACCUMULATION.—A full-time em-
ployee on a flexible schedule under this sub-
section can accumulate not more than 48 credit
hours, and a part-time employee can accumu-
late not more than 1⁄4 of the hours in the basic
work requirement, over a 4-week period, of the
employee, for carryover from a 4-week period to
a succeeding 4-week period for credit to the
basic work requirement for such period.
‘‘(B) COMPENSATION.—Any employee who
is on a flexible schedule program under this
subsection and who is no longer subject to such
a program shall be paid at the then current
rate of basic pay of the employee for—
‘‘(i) in the case of a full-time em-
ployee, not more than 48 credit hours ac-
cumulated by such employee; or
‘‘(ii) in the case of a part-time em-
ployee, the number of credit hours (not in
excess of 1⁄4 of the hours in the basic work
requirement, over a 4-week period, of the
employee) accumulated by such employee.
‘‘(d) PARTICIPATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (3), no employee may be required to partici-
pate in a program described in this section.
‘‘(2) PROHIBITION OF COERCION.—
‘‘(A) An employer may not directly or indi-
rectly intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or at-
tempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce, any
employee for the purpose of interfering with
such employee’s rights under this section to
elect a time of arrival or departure, to elect or
not to elect to work a compressed work sched-
ule, to work or not to work credit hours, or to
request or not to request compensatory time off
in lieu of payment for overtime hours.
‘‘(B) For the purpose of subsection (A),
the term ‘intimidate, threaten, or coerce’ in-
cludes, but is not limited to, promising to con-
fer or conferring any benefit (such as appoint-
ment, promotion, or compensation), or effecting
or threatening to effect any reprisal (such as
deprivation of appointment, promotion, or com-
pensation).’’
‘‘(3) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT.—
In a case in which a valid collective bargaining
agreement exists, an employee may only be required
to participate in such a program in accordance with
the agreement.
‘‘(e) APPLICATION OF PROGRAMS IN THE CASE OF
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.—
‘‘(1) APPLICABLE REQUIREMENTS.—In the case
of employees in a unit represented by an exclusive
representative, any flexible or compressed schedule
described in subsection (b) or (c), respectively, and
the establishment and termination of any such
schedule, shall be subject to the provisions of this
section and the terms of a collective bargaining
agreement between the employer and the exclusive
representative.
‘‘(2) INCLUSION
OF
EMPLOYEES.—Employees
within a unit represented by an exclusive representa-
tive shall not be included within any program under
this section except to the extent expressly provided
under a collective bargaining agreement between the
employer and the exclusive representative.
‘‘(3) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.—
Nothing in this section shall be construed to dimin-
ish the obligation of an employer to comply with any
collective bargaining agreement or any employment
benefits program or plan that provides lesser or
greater rights to employees than the benefits estab-
lished under this section.
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—
‘‘(1) BASIC
WORK
REQUIREMENT.—The term
‘basic work requirement’ means the number of
hours, excluding overtime hours, that an employee is
required to work or is required to account for by
leave or otherwise.
‘‘(2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING.—The term ‘col-
lective bargaining’ means the performance of the
mutual obligation of the representative of an em-
ployer and the exclusive representative of employees
in an appropriate unit to meet at reasonable times
and to consult and bargain in a good-faith effort to
reach agreement with respect to the conditions of
employment affecting such employees and to exe-
cute, if requested by either party, a written docu-
ment incorporating any collective bargaining agree-
ment reached, but the obligation referred to in this
paragraph does not compel either party to agree to
a proposal or to make a concession.
‘‘(3) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT.—
The term ‘collective bargaining agreement’ means an
agreement entered into as a result of collective bar-
gaining.
‘‘(4) CREDIT HOURS.—The term ‘credit hours’
means any hours, within a flexible schedule estab-
lished under subsection (c), that are in excess of the
basic work requirement of an employee and that the
employee elects to work so as to vary the length of
a workweek or a workday.
‘‘(5) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘employee’ means
an employee, as defined in section 3, except that the
term shall not include an employee, as defined in
section 6121(2) of title 5, United States Code.
‘‘(6) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘employer’ means
an employer, as defined in section 3, except that the
term shall not include any person acting in relation
to an employee, as defined in section 6121(2) of title
5, United States Code.
‘‘(7) EXCLUSIVE REPRESENTATIVE.—The term
‘exclusive representative’ means any labor organiza-
tion that—
‘‘(A) is certified as the exclusive represent-
ative of employees in an appropriate unit pursu-
ant to Federal law; or
‘‘(B) was recognized by an employer imme-
diately before the date of enactment of this sec-
tion as the exclusive representative of employees
in an appropriate unit—
‘‘(i) on the basis of an election; or
‘‘(ii) on any basis other than an elec-
tion;
and continues to be so recognized.
‘‘(8) OVERTIME
HOURS.—The term ‘overtime
hours’—
‘‘(A) when used with respect to flexible
schedule programs under subsection (c), means
all hours in excess of 8 hours in a day or 40
hours in a week that are officially ordered in
advance, but does not include credit hours; and
‘‘(B) when used with respect to compressed
schedule programs under subsection (b), means
any hours in excess of the specified hours that
constitute the compressed schedule.
‘‘SEC. 13B. PRIORITY REHIRING.
‘‘(a) PRIORITY.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), the
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29
U.S.C. 621 et seq.), or any other provision of law,
if an employee of an employer takes a period of not
more than 5 years to care for a son, daughter or
parent of the employee, the employer may give prior-
ity treatment to the former employee in a hiring de-
cision after the family care period.
‘‘(2) NO BASIS FOR VIOLATION OR ACTION.—
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, priority
treatment to a former employee as described in
paragraph (1)(B) that is provided by an employer in
a manner consistent with this section shall not con-
stitute a violation by the employer of, or serve as a
basis for an action against an employer by another
individual under, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, or
any other provision of law.
‘‘(b) RELATIONSHIP TO LEAVE.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to affect any leave benefit available
under other law.
‘‘(c) EFFECT ON BENEFITS.—Nothing in this section
shall be construed to entitle any rehired employee to—
‘‘(1) the accrual of any seniority or employment
benefits during any family care period; or
‘‘(2) any right, benefit, or position of employ-
ment other than any right, benefit, or position to
which the employee was entitled prior to taking the
family care period.
‘‘(d) PERIODIC REPORTS.—Nothing in this section
shall be construed to prohibit an employer from requiring
a former employee to report periodically to the employer
on the status and intention of the former employee to
apply for reemployment with the employer.
‘‘(e) COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING
AGREEMENTS.—
Nothing in this section shall be construed to diminish the
obligation of an employer to comply with any collective
bargaining agreement or any employment benefits pro-
gram or plan that provides lesser or greater rights to em-
ployees than the benefits established under this section.
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
‘‘(1) EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.—The term ‘em-
ployment benefits’ means all benefits provided or
made available to employees by an employer, includ-
ing group life insurance, health insurance, disability
insurance, sick leave, annual leave, educational bene-
fits, and pensions, regardless of whether such bene-
fits are provided by a practice or written policy of
an employer or through an ‘employee benefit plan’,
as defined in section 3(3) of the Employee Retire-
ment Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C.
1002(3)).
‘‘(2) FAMILY CARE PERIOD.—The term ‘family
care period’ means a period of not more than 5
years during which an individual who was an em-
ployee cares for a son, daughter, or parent of the
employee, as described in subsection (a)(1).
‘‘(3) FORMER EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘former
employee’ means an individual who—
‘‘(A) was an employee; and
‘‘(B) is taking a family care period.
‘‘(4) PARENT.—The term ‘parent’ means the
biological parent of an employee or an individual
who stood in loco parentis to an employee when the
employee was under 18 years of age.
‘‘(5) REHIRED EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘rehired
employee’ means an individual who—
‘‘(A) was the employee of an employer; and
‘‘(B) has been rehired by the employer
after taking a family care period.
‘‘(6) SON OR DAUGHTER.—The term ‘son or
daughter’ means a biological, adopted, or foster
child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a per-
son standing in loco parentis, who is—
‘‘(A) under 6 years of age; or
‘‘(B) 6 years of age or older and incapable
of self-care because of a mental or physical dis-
ability.
‘‘(g) EFFECTIVE DATES.—This section shall take ef-
fect 6 months after the date of enactment of this section.’’.
mination) that is above the salaried level
for a work week or work period, and
‘‘(iv) suspension from work without
pay for disciplinary purposes’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
subsection (a) shall apply to an employee (described in
such amendment) before, on, and after the date of enact-
ment of this Act unless—
(1) an action was brought in a court involving
the application of section 13(a)(1) of the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(1)) to the
employee; and
(2) a final judgment has been entered in the ac-
tion on or before the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO TITLE 5, UNITED
STATES CODE.
Section 6121(5) of title 5, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
‘‘(5) ‘compressed schedule’ means—
‘‘(A) in the case of a schedule of a full-
time employee, a 160-hour basic work require-
ment, over a 4-week period, that is scheduled
for less than 20 workdays, and
‘‘(B) in the case of a schedule of a part-
time employee, a basic work requirement, over
a 4-week period, of less than 160 hours, that is
scheduled for less than 20 workdays;’’.
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