Working Families Flexibility Act of 2025
Sponsored By: Senator Mike Lee
Introduced
Summary
Would allow private-sector employees to receive compensatory time off instead of monetary overtime pay. It would set the accrual rate at 1.5 hours of comp time for each overtime hour and cap accrual at 160 hours while requiring either a collective bargaining agreement or a voluntary written agreement for nonunion workers.
Show full summary
- Nonunion workers: Must have worked at least 1,000 hours for the employer in the prior 12 months before they can elect comp time. They may withdraw the election and request cash payment, which the employer must pay within 30 days.
- Union-represented employees: May receive comp time under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement, and those agreements can govern how and when comp time is provided or ended.
- Employers: May offer comp time and may end a non‑CBA comp time policy with 30 days' notice.
- Pay and protections: Employers must pay unused comp time from the preceding calendar year by Jan 31 or within 31 days after another designated 12‑month period ends. Payments must be at least the higher of the regular rate when the time was earned or the employee's final regular rate, and employees must be paid for unused comp time at termination.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Pay rules for unused comp time
If enacted, employers would have to pay you for unused compensatory time at the higher of your regular rate when the time was earned or your final regular rate. Employers must pay unused comp time from the prior calendar year by January 31, or within 31 days after a different employer-designated 12-month period. Employers could pay unused comp time over 80 hours after giving at least 30 days notice. If you request payment in writing, the employer must pay within 30 days. If you leave your job, employers must pay unused comp time at the same higher rate. Such payments would be treated as unpaid overtime compensation.
Private workers: comp time instead of overtime
If enacted, private-sector employees could choose compensatory time off instead of overtime pay. You would get at least 1.5 hours of comp time for each overtime hour. You must have worked at least 1,000 hours for the employer in the prior 12 months to use comp time. You could accrue up to 160 hours of comp time. Comp time must be offered under a union contract or a written or verifiable agreement made before the work. You could quit an individual agreement any time. Employers may stop a comp-time policy with 30 days notice unless a union contract says otherwise. Public agency employees would be excluded.
Protections and penalties for comp time
If enacted, employers could not intimidate, threaten, or coerce employees about choosing or using comp time. Employees harmed by such conduct could recover unpaid compensation for each hour accrued plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, reduced by pay for comp hours the employee used. The Secretary of Labor would have to update FLSA notice materials within 30 days of enactment. The Comptroller General would report to Congress starting two years after enactment and in each of the next three years on use and enforcement of these rules.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Mike Lee
UT • R
Cosponsors
James Lankford
OK • R
Sponsored 3/26/2025
Kevin Cramer
ND • R
Sponsored 3/26/2025
Shelley Capito
WV • R
Sponsored 3/26/2025
Marsha Blackburn
TN • R
Sponsored 3/26/2025
John Barrasso
WY • R
Sponsored 3/10/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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