Why does the FSLA only allow the employee 2 weeks to use any comp time?
Why Not longer? What is the reasoning behind this?

I am asking because right now employers are putting on hiring freezes. They are also cutting out all overtime money...but will allow for comp time.

If employees have to cover for positions that are not being filled...this may/can/will mean more hours. So I'm busy covering for two jobs...and I can't get overtime pay...or even straight pay for more hours...and I can't take the comp time within 2 weeks...then what? Catch 22???

Again...I revert back to my first question. If comp time could be taken over a month period (during special times like this)....it would help the employer and employee..both would be happy. So...why ONLY a two week period to take the comp time?

I am a very dedicated employee...if it really means that I need to work more hours to help the cause ...and not get compensated for it...I will. I just wish there was a legal way around this issue.

You may come back and say well...the company has to follow the law. You and I know that won't happen.

???

Are you working for a governmental employer? That is the only mention of "comp time" in the FLSA law. There legally is no such thing as comp time in private sector employment. And what I remember of those governmental employer specific rules do not sound like what you are talking about.

It is an educational institution.
FLSA overtime payments and calculations
Policy:
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provides definitions of nonexempt and exempt work and establishes
minimum standards for hours and wages. Employees who are classified as salaried or hourly nonexempt under
FLSA are covered by the overtime provisions of this law.
Overtime is time worked in excess of the employee's basic scheduled hours any work week. A “work week” is
defined as a regularly recurring period of 168 hours in the form of seven consecutive 24-hour periods. The
University's defined workweek is Sunday at 12:01 a.m. through Saturday midnight.
When a shift begins before and ends after 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, the hours worked during that shift are included
in the workweek in which the shift begins.
Hours worked cannot be averaged over two or more work weeks for computing overtime hours.
Eligibility
The overtime policy and its regulations apply to the employment of all wage earners and regular staff members
who are classified as nonexempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Authorization
Authorization for overtime is given by department heads or their designated representatives on the determination
of need and on the basis of increased workloads, emergencies, or other demands that require work by employees
with certain skills, training, and/or experience.
Overtime not requested but permitted or condoned by a supervisor must be counted as overtime worked. This
rule applies to work away from the premises or at home, as well as work done on the premises. If a supervisor
does not want work done, the supervisor must see that it is not done.
Compensatory Time
A supervisor may grant payment for overtime in the form of compensatory time off upon mutual agreement of
the supervisor and the employee. Compensatory time is calculated the same way as overtime and must be taken
in the same pay period in which it is worked. If it is impossible to take compensatory time in the same pay
period, the University is legally required to pay overtime.Supervisors have the authority to change a staff member's schedule at any time. If a staff member is working
extra hours in the beginning of a particular week, the supervisor can change the schedule so that the staff
member does not work more than his or her scheduled hours during that week. For example, a staff member may
work 35 hours between Monday and Thursday. The supervisor has the authority to have the staff member only
work 2.5 hours on Friday.
Calculating Overtime and Compensatory Time
Payment for time worked in excess of the normal work week (generally..blah blah blah...and so on....

It's actually not even two weeks.

If you work for a private (meaning that no part of your wage or salary is paid for by taxpayer money) employer, then comp time for non-exempt employees is illegal. Period. As long as you are within the same WORK WEEK, your employer may juggle your hours around to keep you at or under 40 hours, i.e., you work 10 hours on Monday and come in two hours late on Tuesday, but comp time in lieu of overtime once you cross the work week barrier is out and out forbidden.

If you are an exempt employee working for a private employer, comp time is legal but not required. For exempt employees, there is no limit as to when comp time can be used if the employer chooses to offer it; it's entirely up to the employer's policy.

If you are a public employee, that's an entirely different scenario and I'll let someone with more experience with the public sector address it.

As to why, the historical reason is that when the FLSA was initially implemented back in the 30's during and immediately following the Great Depression, Congress implemented the overtime requirement as a method of encouraging employers to hire more people. By forcing them to pay more after 40 hours, an employer who had, say, 60 hours worth of work would be encouraged to hire two employees at 30 hours each, instead of one employee for 60 hours. A more contemporary reason is that when a bill was submitted to Congress in the early part of the current decade to allow employees to choose comp time in lieu of overtime, the bill was shot down due to a lobby of misinformation that scared people into thinking that employers would be able to force employees to use comp time even when they preferred to be paid for overtime.

The only legal way around the issue is to lobby your elected representatives to try the bill in question again.

Agreed. I can give you short version of the "comp time" rules but these are governmental employer only.

http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs7.pdf

Under certain prescribed conditions, employees of State or local government agencies may receive compensatory time off at a rate of not less than one and one-half hours for each overtime hour worked, instead of cash overtime pay. Police and fire fighters, emergency response personnel, and employees engaged in seasonal activities may accrue up to 480 hours of comp time; all others, 240 hours.

http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_553/Subpart_A.htm