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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell introduced the Family Friendly and Workplace Flexibility Act today, which would allow flexible workplace arrangements such as compensatory time and flexible credit hour agreements to be extended to businesses with hourly workers. Senator McConnell’s bill is cosponsored by Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH).

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 and flexible credit hour agreements.

“The Family Friendly and Workplace Flexibility Act will help provide America’s workers with the flexible work arrangements they need. Countless Americans have become increasingly familiar over the past several years with the same reality: more and more to do, with less and less time to do it. And while Congress can’t legislate another hour in the day, we can help working Americans better balance the demands of work and family,” Senator McConnell said. “My legislation is a commonsense measure Congress can take to help alleviate that burden for millions of families by providing greater flexibility in managing their time.”

“This legislation extends the same options currently available to those in the public sector to working families in the private sector,” Senator Ayotte said. “Comp time/flex time would enable employees and employers to choose to enter into a voluntary agreement that would allow greater flexibility for workers who are looking to better balance work-life demands.”

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 can still choose to receive monetary payments as their overtime compensation. This bill simply allows the option for employees to choose paid time off for overtime work instead.

This 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, this program 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.

“We all know working moms who are stretched between a job and supporting her kids. And Baby Boomers with elderly parents who require care and attention. A large number of hourly workers employed by private employers are forced to make tough choices when trying to balance work and family. So it’s not surprising that study after study has found that many Americans are calling for greater workplace flexibility,” Senator McConnell said.

A 2010 study conducted by the White House Council of Economic Advisers, for example, found that work flexibility programs can “reduce turnover and improve recruitment, [increase] the productivity of an employer’s workforce, and are associated with improved employee health and decreased absenteeism.”

Another study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Managers found that women’s responsibilities have increased at work and men’s responsibilities have increased at home, resulting in 60 percent of wage and salaried employees feeling they don’t have enough time to spend with their loved ones.

The McConnell bill is supported by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. David Adkisson, President and CEO of the Kentucky Chamber, said “the Family Friendly and Workplace Flexibility Act would allow private employers to give employees the flexibility they want by permitting them to offer paid time as overtime compensation for non-exempt hourly employees. Our members throughout the Commonwealth would find value in being able to provide this benefit to their employees. The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce strongly supports this legislation and we appreciate Senator McConnell’s leadership on this issue.”

The effort to provide greater flexibility and support for families in the workplace is one Senator McConnell has long supported. He previously supported legislation allowing flexible workplace arrangements. This is the fifth time Senator McConnell has sponsored legislation to establish comp time.

Congresswoman Martha Roby (R-AL) introduced similar legislation in the House of Representatives. It was passed earlier this year.

Senator McConnell spoke about the bill on the Senate floor this morning. Click below to view his speech:

Washington, D.C. – Leaders of the U.S. House and Senate held a ceremony commemorating the dedication of the bust of Winston Churchill. Following are Sen. McConnell’s remarks delivered during the ceremony, which took place in Statuary Hall, in the U.S. Capitol:

“Winston Churchill has been called the greatest Englishman of his time. And because his influence was most powerfully felt in the period surrounding the two world wars, we usually think of that time as the middle of the 20th century.

“But it’s important to remember, I think, that this great man of the 20th century was actually born in the middle of the Victorian era, less than a decade after Lincoln was shot. And that by the time the 19th century had turned into the 20th, he was already well acquainted with loss, practiced in war, and accomplished in letters … he was a man, in other words, who was already well on his way to becoming the great figure we all admire; and whose achievements we have come here to celebrate in this hall of national memory.

“So yes, Churchill was an incomparable war-time leader and orator — among the finest in all of Western history. But he was also a witness, chronicler and participant in countless other world-changing events, for nearly a century. And one of his great preoccupations throughout his very long life was … us.

“Winston Churchill’s connection to the United States was not based simply on the exigencies of war or the happy circumstance of his lineage; in addition to these things, it was based firmly on vast personal experience, long observation, deep learning, and even deeper friendships. And as we prepare to place his likeness in the Capitol, it’s worthwhile to remember that as well.

“The first of Churchill’s many visits here came in 1898, at the age of 20, when he and a friend stopped in New York on their way to Cuba, where they had decided to join the Spanish side of an uprising there, mostly for the fun of it. Clearly, this was before the days of the X-Box. It was during that visit that Churchill recorded his first impressions of the United States. In a letter to his brother, he wrote, ‘This is a very great country, my dear Jack.’ He then expounded admiringly on the practicality and efficiency of the people he encountered here, marveled at the energy and youthfulness he saw all around him; and criticized the press.

“But the main point, I think, is that Churchill seemed to see even then the boundless potential of an alliance between our two nations. And it’s a conviction that only deepened as the momentous events of the 20th century unfolded.

“Many books have been written, many by Churchill himself, on the contours and progress of that special relationship over the next five decades, and the seismic political, social, and economic changes that took place in both countries during that time.

“But one thing did not change — and that was Churchill’s deep affection for, and confidence in, the United States. Indeed, it is striking, when one considers the sheer breadth of Churchill’s experience and learning in a lifetime spent at the forefront of world events, to think that the final piece of advice he offered his advisors, just before leaving 10 Downing Street for the very last time, was to remain close to the United States. According to one account, it happened like this: just moments before the 80-year old Churchill was driven off to Buckingham Palace to offer his resignation to the Queen, he turned to the various non-cabinet officials that he had summoned to see him off, and told them, simply, ‘Never be separated from the Americans’.

“Much has changed since that day in 1955. But the wisdom of that counsel has not. May these two great nations, which Winston Churchill loved so deeply and whose democratic values he cherished, and so ably defended, always adhere to it.”

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the failure of Obamacare and the problems it’s causing for millions of Americans:

“Each of us was sent here to serve and protect our constituents.

“That’s why Republicans voted unanimously against Obamacare in 2009. Because we believed it was our job to stand up for the middle-class families we were sent here to represent. Because we – and not just us, but countless health care professionals, policy experts, and citizens across the country – saw this trainwreck coming years ago, knew the pain it would cause, and warned against it.

“I wish the President and Washington Democrats had listened then.

“And honestly, I wish we’d been wrong about Obamacare too. I really do.

“Because the failings of this law are about so much more than a website. They’re about real people.

“Yes, the HealthCare.gov fiasco can seem almost comical at times – like a surreal parody of government bungling.

“But, as the President says, this is about so much more than a website.

“And he’s right.

“The pain this law is causing is not digital – it’s real.

“…Workers first began to feel the pain when employers started cutting hours. And benefits. And some jobs altogether.

“…Spouses felt it when they lost the health coverage they’d had through their husband’s or wife’s job.

“…College graduates felt it when they could only find part-time work, if they could find anything at all in the Obama economy.

“And this was before basically anyone had even heard of this Obamacare website.

“Now that the health care law is actually coming online, many Americans are finding that they’ll be seeing premium increases, or that they’ll be getting hit with higher co-pays and deductibles, or that they can longer see the doctors or use the hospitals of their choice.

“In fact, I’ve been hearing from constituents in Western Kentucky that a number of the hospitals and health-care providers they have relied upon will no longer be available in their network – and in many cases, they’ll be responsible for 100% of the costs associated with services performed at the facilities.

“Let me repeat: 100% of the costs. How is that an improvement? How is that reform?

“Many in the middle class are also learning that the health plans they were promised they could keep are being taken away from them anyway. They feel betrayed. They feel hurt. And they feel vulnerable.

“When these folks are offered, quote, ‘comparable’ plans at all, they’re often unaffordable.

“And if they poke around on the exchanges – assuming they can even log on – many are finding that Obamacare coverage is going to cost them way too much, not offer them what they want, or both.

“Here’s a note I recently received from a constituent in Caldwell County: ‘According to…our health insurance provider, we can elect to stay on our current plan for this year with less coverage or switch to the ‘Affordable’ Care Plan that provides a little more coverage but at cost increase that is almost double. We currently pay $653 per month and it would increase to over $1100…after talking to the insurance company today, it seems…I was lied to by the President and Congress when we were told that the ‘Affordable’ Care Act would not require us to switch from our current insurance provider. My husband and I work hard, pay a lot in taxes and ask for little from our government. Is it asking too much for government to stay out of my health insurance?’

“Her family is not alone. A CNN report this morning estimates that roughly one-half of the 600,000 people in Kentucky’s private insurance market will have their current insurance plans discontinued by the end of next year.

“It just isn’t right. It’s not fair.

“It’s even more unfair when you consider that the Administration chose to exempt businesses from this law for a year – but didn’t think the middle class deserved the same treatment.

“Well, Republicans do. We think the middle class actually deserves a permanent exemption from this law. But as long as partisans in Washington continue to jealously defend Obamacare, we’ll at least do whatever we can to fight for greater fairness for the middle class.

“I hope more Democrats will join with us to make that happen.

“Because a website can be fixed. But the pain this law is causing – higher premiums and canceled coverage – that’s what’s really important. And that’s what Democrats need to work with us to address by starting over fresh with true, bipartisan health reform.”

Recent Press Releases

McConnell Calls on Congress to Pass Flex-Time Bill

The McConnell bill is a ‘commonsense measure Congress can take to help alleviate burdens on millions of families by providing greater flexibility in managing their time.’

October 31, 2013

Senator McConnell spoke about the bill on the Senate floor this morning. Click below to view his speech:

Winston Churchill Bust Dedication

Remarks of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell

October 30, 2013

Obamacare Failure Extends Far Beyond Flawed Website

‘A CNN report this morning estimates that roughly one-half of the 600,000 people in Kentucky’s private insurance market will have their current insurance plans discontinued by the end of next year. It just isn’t right. It’s not fair.’

October 30, 2013