Why It Matters
At least 12 bills in the 119th Congress would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime pay framework, according to a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report.
Of those 12, only H.R.2870, the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2025, has advanced beyond committee referral, reaching floor consideration in the House after being placed on the Union Calendar on Feb. 12.
The Big Picture
The Fair Labor Standards Act, enacted in 1938, requires covered, nonexempt employees to receive one-and-a-half times their regular rate of pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. Certain groups are exempt entirely, including agricultural employees, some transportation workers and some salaried executive, administrative and professional employees.
The 12 congressional bills under consideration would touch nearly every part of that framework:
- H.R.9216 and S.5268 would raise the overtime premium from 1.5 times to 2 times the regular rate; both are at the Introduced stage.
- H.R.2870 and S.1158 would allow private-sector workers to take comp time instead of overtime pay.
- The Guaranteeing Overtime for Truckers Act (H.R.1962/S.893) would modify overtime exemptions for certain transportation workers.
- The Fairness for Farmworkers Act (H.R.10273/S.5304) is one of several bills proposing to add, modify, or remove FLSA overtime exemptions, and its title says it would amend the FLSA to provide increased labor law protections for agricultural workers.
- The Restoring Overtime Pay Act of 2026 (H.R.8868/S.4551) would set a minimum salary threshold for the executive, administrative and professional exemption and update it automatically each year. The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act (H.R.10323) would reduce the standard workweek from 40 to 32 hours.
The Bottom Line
H.R.2870, the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2025, is the only one of the 12 tracked bills regarding overtime pay that reached Floor Consideration status and was placed on the Union Calendar as Calendar No. 422. The remaining 11 bills remain at the Introduced stage, with no committee action beyond referral.
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