Flexibility for Workers Education Act
Description
This bill would exclude voluntary, off-hours training from an employee's compensable hours if no work is performed during the session.
Summary
What it does
This bill would modify the Fair Labor Standards Act to exclude certain voluntary training sessions from the definition of hours worked. Under this proposal, training that occurs outside of an employee's regular schedule would not count toward their total working hours if the employee performs no work during the session and their employment conditions are not negatively impacted by a decision to not participate.
Who is affected
This bill affects employees who participate in voluntary training programs offered by their employers outside of regular working hours. It also impacts employers who provide such training, as these hours would no longer be classified as compensable work time under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The legislation specifically applies to situations where the employee performs no productive work during the training and faces no adverse changes to their working conditions for declining to participate.
Key provisions
- Exclusion of voluntary training from hours worked. Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act to exclude time spent in certain voluntary training from the official definition of hours worked, provided the training occurs outside of an employee's regular working hours.
- Conditions for training hour exclusions. Specifies that training does not count as hours worked if the employee performs no actual work during the session and their working conditions are not negatively impacted by a decision to not participate.
Fiscal impact
- H.R. 2262, Flexibility for Workers Education Act· As ordered reported by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on April 9, 2025
Effective dates
Not applicable: Official Summary does not address effective dates
Relationship to existing law
This bill modifies the Fair Labor Standards Act by amending its definition of hours worked to exclude certain voluntary training sessions that occur outside of an employee's regular working hours.
Stated purpose
The bill aims to modify the definition of hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act to exclude voluntary training sessions that occur outside of an employee's regular schedule. This change ensures that such training does not count toward compensable hours, provided the employee performs no work during the session and faces no adverse consequences for declining to participate.