Statement
STATEMENT OF KRISTIN ROWE-FINKBEINER, Executive Director and CEO, MomsRising.org, On the “Working Families Flexibility Act”
May 6, 2013
Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996
MomsRising.org Executive Director Calls Working Families Flexibility Act ‘a Bad Bill with a Good Name’
“As an organization representing more than a million moms nationwide, we’re thrilled when Congress puts forward policy solutions that help working families achieve economic security but the deceptively titled “Working Families Flexibility Act” (HR 1406) is bad bill with a good name.
“Let’s be clear. Moms are hard to fool and we won’t be fooled by the National Republican Congressional Committee’s web ads designed to target moms through Mommy blogs, We know that if this bill passes, it will mean a pay cut for workers and less – not more – workplace flexibility.
“The so-called “Working Families Flexibility Act” would not guarantee that a mom who works extra hours could cash in that that time if her son or daughter came down with the flu, or that an expecting mother could use her accrued comp time as parental leave when her baby is born, even if she’s worked enough overtime to save for an extended leave.
“Virtually all employees need time off; people need time away from work to care for their loved ones and themselves. But this proposal, despite its name, doesn’t guarantee that.
“For example: Workers who prefer overtime pay to comp time could see their hours – and their potential to accrue overtime pay – cut because employers may choose to cut costs by giving extra hours and shifts to workers who accept comp time in lieu of overtime pay.
“For some families, overtime pay is critical. In fact, Oregon MomsRising member Anna wrote to us that overtime pay saved her house! When her husband suffered a stroke and was unable to work for two years, Anna took overtime as frequently as possible. As a result, Anna’s family was able to pay off their medical and other bills and refinanced their house. She told us that this wouldn’t have been possible it she hadn’t been able to earn overtime pay.
“Under the proposed bill, however, employees who earn comp time have no guarantee that they will be able to use it when they need it, because employers can veto requests to use accrued comp time anytime they feel the employee’s absence will “unduly disrupt” the employer’s business – even if the request is for an urgent need like caring for a sick child.
“We hear from MomsRising members all the time about how important access to earned paid sick time is. A member from Illinois wrote that because she didn’t have access to earned sick time, she had to delay seeking medical treatment for her daughter's ear infection and as a result her daughter's hearing was damaged.
“What’s more, employees who accept comp time are vulnerable to an employers’ unilateral decision to cash the time out even when the employee may be banking the time for a particular purpose, like maternity leave. Having a baby is a leading cause of poverty spells for women in the United States - the last thing an expectant mother needs is to unexpectedly lose the leave she'd saved.
“That’s not flexibility. And that is not what working moms and dads need. What they really need are workplace standards that include things like earned sick days, paid family leave insurance, affordable child care and fair pay. We know these policies save taxpayer dollars, improve women's economic security, help close the wage gap and break down the Maternal Wall, and strengthen our national economy as a whole.
“Rather than backing bills with names intended to fool us, Congress should pass the Healthy Families Act, a bill we know is good for families and the economy, and that represents the kind of workplace standard that working families need and want.”