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Updated: Workflex in the 21st Century Act Continues To Work Its Way Through Congress



This morning, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce is set to hold another hearing on the Workflex in the 21st Century Act (H.R. 4219 (115)).  Readers might recall that last year, I highlighted this bill, sponsored by California Republican Representative Mimi Walters (and co-sponsored by Washington Republican Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers and New York Republican Representative Elise Stefanik).  For those needing a refresher, the Act would exempt companies from state and local paid leave laws if these companies met minimum federal paid leave standards and flexible work requirements.  This bill is considered a "first of its kind" in so much that it would combine guaranteed paid leave and increased workplace flexibility under one piece of legislation.

As for the specifics of the paid leave portion of the bill:

  • Paid leave would be extended to all full time and part time employees.
  • Employees could accrue leave over the course of a plan year or employers could choose to offer a leave lump sum amount at the start of the plan year.
  • New employees would be subject to restrictions on the use of leave during the first 90 days of employment.
  • Paid leave would be scaled to the size of the employer's workforce and the tenure of employees.
  • Employers, rather than taxpayers, would pay the cost of the paid leave

As for the specifics of the flexible work (a/k/a workflex) portion of the bill:

  • To be eligible for a workflex arrangement, an employee would have to be employed for at least 12 months by the employer and would have to have worked at least 1,000 hours during the previous 12 months.
  • Employers would be required to offer at least one of the following workflex arrangements to eligible employees:  compressed work schedule, biweekly work program, telecommuting program, job sharing program, flexible scheduling, or a predictable schedule.

While many Republicans and business groups have started to rally around the Act, there has been some resistance against it.  For instance, late last year, the National Women's Law Center wrote a letter to Congress and criticized the Act as harming families by allowing employers to "circumvent state and local laws designed to protect working people."  In particular, the group characterized the Act as unjustly allowing employers to decide when and whether workers would be allowed to use paid time off and to decide what constituted "predictable" or "flexible" schedules.  While this bill is still in the early stages of working its way through Congress, it will be one to keep an eye on going forward (as other paid leave legislation looks to gain a foothold).


For a copy of the Workflex in the 21st Century Act:  https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4219

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