The Honorable Mimi Walters
215 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congresswoman Walters:
The U.S. Chamber commends you for introducing H.R. 4219, the Workflex in the 21st Century Act, an innovative approach to increasing the availability of paid leave and flexible work options for American employees that also helps employers navigate a patchwork of conflicting regulations.
H.R. 4219 differs from other leave proposals by relying on an incentive mechanism, along with scaled amounts of leave, to expand the providing of paid leave and flexible work options that suit a broad array of workplaces. In addition to helping more employers provide paid leave benefits, the bill encourages a trend already occurring in the modern workplace: employees and employers increasingly embracing workplace flexibility to expand the choices of when, where, and how work is done.
In exchange, participating employers would have only one leave program to administer nationally, instead of complying with an increasingly complex matrix of proliferating state and local paid leave mandates.
Furthermore, because the Workflex bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), employers are subject to the penalties under ERISA if they do not comply.
We look forward to working with you to pass the Workflex in the 21st Century Act.
Sincerely,
Neil Bradley
