The House just passed a bill that can change the way some employers pay workers for overtime with a vote of 229 to 197. The measure, backed by Republicans, would allow private-sector employers overtime to be paid in paid time off instead of time-and-a-half pay. The bill passed May 2 and had no Democrats vote in favor of it and six Republicans voted against it, according to AOL.  

The GOP are calling the legislation the Working Families Flexibility Acts, and present it as a way for hourly-waged employees with a heavy work week to spend more time for themselves.

“I don’t think there’s anything more powerful than giving them more control over their time so that they can make the best decisions for themselves and their families,” Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington said in a press conference held by Republican leaders in the House, according to CNNMoney.

The new bill has support from the Trump administration, and in a press release the White House said the president’s advisers would recommend that Trump signs the bill into law, if it came to him in its current form. Still, Democrats oppose the bill with their main concern being the bill gives employers greater control over workers overtime compensation.

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts showed her distaste for the bill on Twitter saying, “With working families across the country scraping to make ends meet, Congress should strengthen protections for workers – not gut them.” She later tweeted,“Today, @HouseGOP are voting to make it legal for employers to cheat workers out of overtime. It’s a disgrace.”

Senator Patty Murray of Washington said the bill does not put workers first, stating in a statement, “This is nothing but a recycled bad bill that would allow big corporations to make an end-run around giving workers the pay they’ve earned.”
While similar bills have been pitched in the past 20 years they were all shot down or died in the Senate. To avoid a filibuster that would prolong the legislative, Republicans will need eight Democrats to vote in favor of the legislation.