California Flexible Work Week Defeated Despite Support from California Chamber of Commerce

Flexible Workweek Legislation Dies By Party-Line Vote In Committee

Assemblyman John J. Benoit announced that his Small Business Family Scheduling Option (Assembly Bill 2127), legislation that would have given flexibility to hourly employees in California´s small businesses to alter their workweek schedules, was defeated on a party-line vote in the Labor and Employment Committee. AB 2127 would have permitted an individual employee in a company that employs 25 people or less, with the consent of his or her employer, to adopt a schedule that provides for 10-hour workdays in a 4-day workweek.

California Chamber of Commerce Support

A California Chamber of Commerce-sponsored measure that would allow employees flexibility in work schedules to help accommodate diverse family obligations, commuting issues and other personal obligation will have its first hearing today at the State Capitol. If passed, AB 2127 (Benoit; R-Bermuda Dunes) will allow a small employer (25 or fewer employees) to agree to an employee’s request to work an alternative work schedule. The bill applies specifically to small businesses that are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement. According to small businesses, employees and local chambers of comer, the Small Business Family Scheduling Option would add a much-needed boost for employers struggling recruit and maintain qualified employees in a shrinking pool of candidates. “California needs a law that will permit four-day workweeks for individual workers,” said Marc Burgat, CalChamber Vice President of Government Relations. “AB 2127 is good for workers, good for the environment and good public policy. Permitting individual scheduling flexibility is one way small businesses owners can help employees strike a balance between work and personal responsibilities. This bill has the added benefit of helping our environment by eliminating one commute trip per week for each employee who is working the compressed schedule.” AB 2127 has received strong support from both employers and employees. More than 43 local chambers have co-sponsored the bill. Ruth Evans, owner of The Evans HR Group, a human resource management firm, supports AB 2127 because the bill would allow her employees to spend more time with their families and achieve the life-work balance her employees seek. “As a very small employer I would like to honor the requests by my employees for a compressed workweek so they can attend to their personal and family’s needs,” said Evans. “AB 2127 will allow me to offer my employees a schedule that best suits their individual scheduling needs. As a result, my employees will have more time with their families and achieve a better work-life balance without a reduction in pay.” Sharon Tyrrell, owner of Capree Escrow, Inc. in Riverside, would like to offer a more flexible schedule for her employees, but current law prevents her from offering them an option. “As a small business owner, I have always encouraged my employees to continue their education,” said Tyrrell. “AB 2127 would allow my staff to work a fulltime schedule in four days, providing them with an additional day to attend college classes that are often only offered during traditional business hours. Current law prevents me from offering my employees a more flexible schedule to accommodate their needs, and as a result, the employees must reduce their work hours, and therefore their pay, in order to attend class. Why should they have to choose between work and school when AB 2127 is a reasonable alternative?”

Union Members Unaffected
Union employees and employers are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Current language in California Labor Code Section 514 would allow the provisions of AB 2127 to be available only to small businesses with fewer than 25 employees that are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement. If a small employer enters into a collective bargaining agreement subsequent to entering into an alternative workweek agreement, Section 514 mandates the collective bargaining agreement would apply instead.

Current Law
Under current Labor Code Section 511, and following the Industrial Welfare Commission wage orders, employers may institute alternative work schedules only if a supermajority of affected employees agrees to the arrangement by secret ballot. Then, all employees in the work unit are subject to alternative scheduling.

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