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Ayotte, McConnell, Isakson Reintroduce The Family Friendly And Workplace Flexibility Act

Bill Would Accommodate Voluntary Workplace Arrangements Such as Compensatory Time and Flexible Credit Hour Agreements

March 24, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA), recently reintroduced the Workplace Flexibility Act, legislation which would allow voluntary workplace arrangements such as compensatory time and flexible credit hour agreements to be extended to hourly workers in the private sector.

“Working families in the private sector should have the same options to enter into the kind of flexible work arrangements that are currently available to public sector workers,” said Senator Ayotte. “This legislation would enable employees to work with their employers to enter into voluntary agreements that would allow greater flexibility for workers who are looking to better balance their work-life demands.”

“The Family Friendly and Workplace Flexibility Act will help provide America’s workers with the flexible work arrangements they need to better balance the demands of work and family. Countless Americans face the daily reality of having more to do with less time to do it, and though Congress can’t legislate another hour in the day we can provide working Americans with more options for how to organize their time,” Senator McConnell said. “I am proud to join Senators Ayotte and Isakson in sponsoring this legislation, and I thank them for their continued work to promote measures important to working families.”

"I am proud to support this legislation that will allow hardworking Americans the flexibility required today to meet the needs of family while also allowing them to adequately meet the needs of their employers," said Isakson, chairman of the Senate subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety. "The private sector should provide working families the ability to enjoy the fair and common-sense flexibility that is already available in the public sector." 

Currently, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) prohibits employers from offering compensatory time, or “comp time,” to their hourly employees. By contrast, federal employees are eligible to receive comp time. The bill would amend the FLSA to allow private employers to offer comp time to employees at a rate of one-and-one-half hours for every hour of overtime work. A completely voluntary process, an employee could still choose to receive monetary payments as their overtime compensation. This bill simply allows the option for employees to instead choose paid time off for overtime work.

The bill also institutes a flexible credit-hour program, under which the employer and employee can enter into agreements that allow the employee to work excess hours beyond the typical number of hours he or she is typically required to work in order to accrue hours to be taken off at a later time. This option is for employees who do not get the opportunity to work overtime, but still want a way to build up hours to use as paid leave.

Like comp time, the flex time option is voluntary and may not affect collective bargaining agreements that are in place. Under this legislation, employers would not be mandated to offer the flexible workplace arrangements, just as employees are not mandated to choose these benefits rather than direct compensation for overtime work.  The bill explicitly prohibits employers from coercing their employees to enter into a comp time or flex time arrangement.

Senate Republican Budget Promotes Prosperous Energy Future, Strengthens National Defense

‘Every budget is a compromise. This one is surely that. But it’s a good compromise. It embraces growth. It reaches for a more prosperous energy future. It positions our nation for a better outcome than we’d see otherwise on defense.’

March 24, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the Republican budget that will help promote economic growth through energy advancement, and will add additional funding for America’s national security needs:

“Throughout the Obama era, families across the country have had to make a lot of tough decisions.

“Lost jobs or lower wages meant doing more with less, and refocusing on what truly mattered.

“It wasn’t easy, but families made the best of difficult situations in order to position themselves for greater success in better days to come.

“Meanwhile in Washington, you saw record levels of overspending, trillion-dollar deficits, and historic levels of debt. Hardworking families made tough choices while the Obama Administration and its allies aimed to keep right on overspending.

“It was more than just wrong, many would say it was unfair. But today, Democrats can join together with Republicans to help rectify the inequity. Instead of having Washington play by one set of rules, and the Middle Class by another, we can force Washington to start confronting big challenges — just like everyone else has to.

“We can force Washington to focus on serving the Middle Class again, instead of the other way around.

“And we can begin by passing the balanced budget before the Senate today.

“This balanced budget pivots on an essential truth — that Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue problem — and strives to make government more accountable, more efficient, and more accessible. It represents a significant step forward when it comes to solving our country’s many fiscal challenges.

“But that’s just one reason this balanced budget is so important.

“Here’s another: it will help promote economic growth right now, and promote sustained opportunity into the future.

“It aims to do so in a variety of ways.

“One is promoting energy advancement as an engine for growth.

“The energy revolution is truly historic: it’s creating thousands of jobs, lowering costs for the Middle Class, and helping lift many into it. This budget embraces that progress. It aims to remove needless barriers to environmentally responsible energy development. And I expect other members to come to the floor and discuss the energy component in greater detail today.

“I also expect members will come to discuss funding America’s national security needs.

“As we know, there are a numerous threats facing our country:

“Terrorism, practiced by groups like ISIL, Al Qaeda, and its associates.

“Iranian efforts to advance its ballistic missile program, pursue a nuclear weapon, and sponsor terror.

“And Russian and Chinese attempts to expand their spheres of influence, which will require us to modernize our force.

“We must eventually give the Defense Department the certainty it needs to modernize the force. Members continue to work toward solutions for funding defense in the most robust and predictable way possible.

“But I commend Chairman Enzi and Senator Graham for providing us with a path forward in the interim. Their proposal represents a good faith compromise to begin the legislative process for the defense authorization bill we will consider later this year — when the additional overseas contingency funds can be prudently reallocated against the actual procurement and modernization needs of our military, if only for the coming fiscal year. 

“Short of revising the BCA, this is the best strategy to keep faith with our armed services. And this is the best option we currently have for leaving President Obama’s successor in a better position to face so many global challenges.
 
“Every budget is a compromise.

“This one is surely that. But it’s a good compromise.

“It embraces growth. It reaches for a more prosperous energy future. It positions our nation for a better outcome than we’d see otherwise on defense.

“It’s bold, yet balanced.

“And it aims to change Washington’s focus: away from the needs of big-spending politicians, and toward the aspirations of hardworking Americans who are right to demand a government that’s efficient, accountable, and focused on growth.

“This budget is all of those things. I urge all of our colleagues to support it.”

 

Senate to Debate Republican Budget that Balances without Raising Taxes

March 23, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the 5th anniversary of Obamacare and the Republican budget:

“We begin this week by remembering a failed idea from the past — Obamacare — and we’ll end by passing balanced legislation about the future.

“Five years ago today, a partisan Obamacare bill was signed into law over the objections of the American people.

“It was rushed through in defiance of the experts who warned it would result in higher costs, fewer choices, and broken promises for the Middle Class.

“And, tragically, that’s just what we’ve seen.

“Millions of Americans lost health plans they were promised they could keep.

“Premiums spiked.

“Deductibles skyrocketed.

“Tax time became even more of a burden, often a costlier one.

“And for too many, family doctors and trusted hospitals fell out of network.

“All you have to do is listen to letters like Karen’s, from Louisville, to know that Americans deserve better than what Obamacare has given them.

“Karen was paying $325 a month for her health insurance. But now, she says her premium has spiked to almost $550 a month — with a deductible well in excess of $6,000.

“‘I cannot afford this,’ Karen wrote, ‘but I do not have a choice.’

“‘It scares me to think what will happen if I do get sick.’

“That’s Karen’s story. It’s hardly unique.

“Every member in this body should be striving for something better than the pain of Obamacare.

“And we can. By passing a balanced budget that’s about the future, we can leave Obamacare’s higher costs and broken promises where they belong — in the past — and start fresh, with real health reform.

“That’s just one of the many reasons for Senators to support the balanced budget now before us.

“It’s a budget that recognizes serious fiscal and economic challenges facing our country, and works to address them in a common-sense way.

“Americans know that Washington can’t tax away the challenges confronting us. And Americans know Washington can’t ignore away the problems confronting us either.

“Americans also know that every dollar spent on interest for the growing national debt is essentially wasted. Every dollar spent on interest is one less dollar for a Social Security check, or for helping those who truly need it, or for tax relief.

“That’s why the balanced budget before us is premised on a simple truth: that Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

“I know that this can be hard for some politicians to acknowledge. But politicians have a duty to the American people to admit it.

“They owe it to the American people to explain why the kind of budget blueprints we’ve seen from the White House are just so unserious. President Obama’s budgets skip the tough choices, keep spending more money we don’t have, contain massive tax increases, and never balance — ever.

“Contrast that to the budget before the Senate today.

“It balances. It does so without raising taxes. And it’s the result of open and transparent committee work, led by Chairman Enzi.

“This budget is another example of the new Senate getting back to work for the American people. It’s another example of the new Senate moving past failed ideas from the past like Obamacare, and positioning America for the future instead.

“This balanced budget is all about growing an economy that can work better for the Middle Class of today, and leaving a more prosperous future to the Middle Class of tomorrow.

“It will also provide the procedural tools – via the budget reconciliation process – to bring an end to the nightmare of Obamacare. That’s something all of us should want.

“So, since our friends across the aisle have decided not to offer a budget of their own, I invite them to join us — join us in supporting the growth-oriented and balanced budget that’s before us now.”

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