On November 20, the House Education and the Workforce (EWF) Committee favorably reported (sent to the full House for a vote) bills that would allow compensatory overtime (OT), and codify the PAID self-audit program. The 19 to 15 vote to advance the bills was largely party-line.

Compensatory OT: H.R. 2870, the Working Families Flexibility Act, would allow private-sector employees to choose paid time off instead of overtime pay. There is a companion bill, S.1158, in the Senate. That bill is pending before the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

The PAID Program: H.R. 2299, the Ensuring Workers Get Paid Act, would codify the federal regulatory program, administered by the Department of Labor, that offers to employers a voluntary self-audit and reporting settlement process that allows participating employers to resolve wage theft violations. A companion bill, S. 2267, is pending in the Senate. The legislation would reinstate and permanently establish the PAID program that allows employers to fix payroll mistakes and quickly return owed wages to employees without penalty. DOL says that during its 2018 iteration, this regulatory program yielded four times the amount of back wages for workers compared to traditional enforcement. 

Prospects: It is not impossible that Congress will vote on either or both of these bills before year-end, but it is not likely. There is too much competition from other higher-priority issues and only a limited amount of time. But better prospects, at least for the PAID bill, may develop in 2026. The compensatory OT bill is partisan and faces stiff opposition, mostly from Democrats