Xavier Becerra: “I believe everyone would agree that all of us who work would love flexibility at the workplace. Whether you are the…”

“I believe everyone would agree that all of us who work would love flexibility at the workplace. Whether you are the employee or you are the employer, you want to know you have a chance to make use of your vacation time, your benefits, and obviously do the best job you can while you are on the job. With the realities that today's families must face, two working parents, kids off to school, kids trying to be able to participate in recreational activities, it is difficult. Let us give employees that flexibility, but let us give them the flexibility of doing what they wish with their time and the money they have earned through their wages. The problems I have with this bill are that it does not do that. Let me give some quick examples. The issue of coercion. We have people who work here who have graduate degrees, who oftentimes find themselves picking up laundry for Members of Congress or shuttling family members to and from offices because the Member says, 'I need to have it done.' If we can see that happening here in the halls of this place, think what happens in the workplace where someone is working for $7 an hour and the employer says, 'I need you to do this this way. I need you to take comp time versus the overtime pay you could get on Saturday.' What is the employee going to say? 'Sorry, I think I would rather take my overtime and not agree with you'?”