The Ohio House Economic Small Business Committee took testimony Feb. 10 on HB 61 which would give private employers the option to offer and employees the option to accrue and use compensatory time off in lieu of monetary overtime compensation.
Support for the provisions that would allow private employers to offer their employees the option to accrue and use
compensatory time off in lieu of monetary overtime compensation, was presented by the National Federation of
Independent Business (NFIB), the Automotive Service Association of Ohio (ASA), Inc., and the Ohio Chamber of
Commerce.
Greg Saul, member benefits program director for the NFIB, said, “For years, small business owners have sought less regulation in the workplace and more flexibility in how they meet their employees’ needs,” said Saul. “They are strapped by endless regulations designed with big business in mind, including current wage and hour laws, which fail to reflect the difference among business size and demographics.” He said an NFIB survey revealed an overwhelming support for changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act that would
allow employers more flexibility when dealing with wage and hour laws, specifically those related to compensatory
and flex-time benefits.
“A key tenant to this legislation is that an employee must initiate a request to receive compensatory time in lieu of
overtime if it is offered by an employer,” said Tom Seegers, Esq., director of labor and human resources policy for
the Ohio Chamber. “The bill also prohibits employers that offer compensatory time from coercing employees to make
that election.”
Seeger said this bill recognizes the changes in today’s workforce from that of 1938, when the current wage and hour
laws were originally enacted, and provides the option of a more flexible work schedule to help retain and attract
qualified employees.