Catherwood LibraryILR School

Since 1994, legislation has been introduced annually in Congress at the behest of business groups such as the U.S. Chamber Commerce, to loosen time-and-a-half overtime laws contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act by allowing employers to replace overtime pay with time off in return for overtime work, a system known as comp time. Now, with Republicans in control of both the House and the Senate, employers are hoping that such legislation may be passed---a hope buoyed by legislation proposed by incoming New Hampshire Republican and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee chair Judd Gregg to weaken forty-hour maximum workweek laws. The labor movement has criticized such measures, pointing out that businesses can implement flexible scheduling without changes in wage and hour protection, and raising concerns about overtime pay avoidance, employer pressure on workers to take comp time instead of pay, and employer restrictions on when comp time can be used.