Sponsors (6)
The bill expands worker choice and strengthens remedies around employer use of compensatory time—improving flexibility and enforcement for many employees—while raising employer liability and administrative burdens that could encourage some employers to limit comp-time offerings or shift scheduling practices, potentially reducing immediate cash pay for workers.
Private-sector employees (particularly hourly and middle-class families) can choose paid compensatory time instead of cash overtime at a 1.5:1 rate, giving workers more scheduling flexibility to take time off rather than receiving immediate pay.
Employees who do not use earned comp time are entitled to payment for unused hours on termination or annually, and the law provides liquidated damages (an equal additional amount) for violations, increasing workers' ability to recover lost pay.
Collective bargaining agreements retain authority to govern compensatory-time terms, and the bill bars employer coercion to accept or use comp time, helping preserve union negotiating power and worker choice.
Private-sector employees (especially hourly workers) may be steered into taking comp time instead of receiving immediate cash overtime, reducing workers' short-term income and weakening bargaining leverage over pay.
Increased employer liability (required double recovery/liquidated damages and treating unpaid comp-time as unpaid overtime) raises potential labor costs and litigation risk, which could prompt some employers to stop offering comp time or to change scheduling and hiring practices.
Non‑represented employees may still feel pressured to accept pre-work comp-time agreements despite anti-coercion rules, because unequal bargaining power can persist in practice.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Introduced March 26, 2025 by Mike Lee · Last progress March 26, 2025
Allows private employers to offer compensatory time off (comp time) instead of cash overtime pay when the employee knowingly and voluntarily agrees in writing or under a collective bargaining agreement. Sets accrual caps, payout deadlines and notice rules, creates a damages remedy for violations, requires the Labor Department to update employer notices quickly, directs recurring GAO reports on comp-time use and enforcement, and sunsets the whole change after five years.