Civil and Human Rights Coalition Denounces Misnamed ‘Working Families Flexibility Act’

WASHINGTON— Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement after the House Committee on Education and the Workplace approved H.R. 1180, the Working Families Flexibility Act:

“The Working Families Flexibility Act is misnamed – it neither supports working families nor provides flexibility. If passed, this bill would mean more overtime hours and less money for workers without any guarantee of time off when they need it. It amends the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), replacing actual paid overtime with a promise of future paid leave and undermining its longstanding protections for workers. Employers would have unfettered discretion to grant that leave, while employees would have no guarantee of having that flexible time off when they request it.

“The bill also would have a particularly pernicious effect on people of color and women, who make up a disproportionate share of the low-wage workforce. Current law already provides for a range of flexible schedules. This legislation places all the control for taking compensatory time with the employer, a fundamental shift in the basic premise of the FLSA, which provides minimum standards to protect employees.

“We already have an administration that is hostile to working families, placing corporate interests above worker protections. Congress needs to reject the Working Families Flexibility Act.”

The Leadership Conference’s letter to lawmakers on H.R. 1180, the Working Families Flexibility Act, is available here.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.