A bill that would allow employers to offer employees compensatory time instead of overtime wages to employees has started a conversation in Congress that deals with work-life issues, a public policy official said April 29 at the 2013 WorldatWork  Total Rewards Conference in Philadelphia.

The Working Families Flexibility Act (H.R. 1406), which was approved April 17 by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to allow private-sector employers to offer compensatory paid time off to hourly employees who work more than 40 hours a week in lieu of cash wages of time-and-a-half the worker's regular rate of pay.

Conversations about work-life issues have not been held before at the congressional level, said Cara Woodson Welch, vice president of policy and public affairs at WorldatWork.

Comp time would be offered at a rate of 1.5 hours for each hour of overtime worked, and the worker and the employer would need to agree in writing at the time of the arrangement. Any unused time  would be paid in cash at year-end. Workers would be able to cash out the accrued time upon request.

The House is likely to approve the measure, but the proposal would probably spend more time in committees in the Senate, where it has no sponsorship, Welch said. The importance of the bill, which was introduced April 9 by Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.), is that a conversation was started on the Republican side of the House, where workplace flexibility issues have not been addressed before, she said.

Republicans said the bill would provide families with much-needed flexibility, but Democrats said it would take advantage of already-struggling hourly workers.

Among the concerns are employers forcing employees to receive compensatory time off instead of earning overtime pay, said Claiborne Guy, a policy analyst at WorldatWork. Another concern is that an employer might not pay an employee for accrued comp time upon leaving the company, he said.

By Kristin Washington