Sean Patrick Maloney: “last week the new majority was talking about encouraging work. Now with this bill they seem to be encouraging taking…”

“last week the new majority was talking about encouraging work. Now with this bill they seem to be encouraging taking time off. Mr. Speaker, despite strong economic indicators, millions of Americans, many of them single mothers, are working harder and longer for less money. This bill strips them of even that right. The majority of low-wage workers are women. They count on their overtime pay to feed their children and to make ends meet. The underlying bill allows employers to offer comp time to workers instead of overtime pay. It requires a voluntary agreement with the employee, but we all know that in the real world employers may bully employees into accepting whatever the employer wants. The practical effect of this bill will be to allow employers to force an employee to take comp time instead of paying overtime. While that person is using comp time, the employer can pay another employee regular wages instead of time and a half. The bottom line is, employees could get paid less. Mr. Speaker, this is not progress, it is a step in the wrong direction. I urge a ``no'' vote on the rule.”