Two Bills Introduced To Increase Workweek Flexibility
Two bills have been introduced in the California legislature that would allow employees greater flexibility in scheduling their workweek. The California Chamber of Commerce sponsored two bills, AB 2217 (Villines; R-Clovis) and SB 1254 (Ackerman; R-Tustin), that will allow individual workers to request and their employers to mutually agree to a four-day compressed workweek.
The Chamber states that:
Both AB 2217 and SB 1254 would allow employees to work four 10-hour days a week if the employee desires the schedule and the employer agrees to the compressed schedule.If the employer agrees to the proposed four-day workweek schedule, the four-day workweek will be paid at straight-time rates. Any work performed beyond the compressed work schedule would remain subject to current state overtime rules.
Working a compressed four-day workweek provides for up to 50 extra days off from work each year for the average full-time employee. That will be time for the employee to spend with family, attend children's school activities, take care of dependent elders, go to medical appointments, go back to school or attend to other private matters that usually cannot be accomplished on a weekend.
Current Law Inflexible
Under current law, individual employees do not have the right to seek and arrange flexible schedules with their employers.California overtime law requires premium pay for an hourly employee who works more than eight hours in a single day or more than 40 hours in a single workweek. Due to the state's strict overtime premium pay requirements, an employer who agrees to permit a four-day compressed workweek schedule would incur additional costs because the employee must be paid at time-and-a-half wage rates for the last two hours of each 10-hour workday.
The current alternate work schedule adoption process is largely unused and does not provide flexibility for individual workers and employers. About 11,000 of the state's 800,000-plus employers are trying to operate under the restrictive alternate workweek rules.
The current (and very detailed) Industrial Welfare Commission wage orders permit employers to institute alternative work schedules only if a supermajority of affected employees agree to the arrangement in writing and by secret ballot.
Employers must hold discussion meetings at least 14 days before secret ballot voting. Two-thirds of the company's employees must agree to the change. Any deviation from the rigidly controlled process voids the election and subjects the employer to potential lawsuits that can seek up to three years of back overtime pay for affected workers, along with huge penalties and fines.
Moreover, variances in schedules or the use of more than one schedule is prohibited without repeating the voting process. This effectively eliminates most employers and employees from choosing schedule options such as flextime, part-time, job sharing, telecommuting and compressed workweeks.
Employers who are offering a compressed work schedule without going through the election process are operating in violation of the law.
Click here to read the Chamber's full article.
The Chamber is also looking for employers or employees who would like to testify in support of the two bills. For those who are interested can contact Jessica Smith, Chamber grassroots coordinator, at (916) 444-6670 or e-mail jessica.smith@calchamber.com.