What is your average work week? According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, more than sixty-six percent of women and eighty-eight percent of men in the United States work more than 40 hours per week (4). Yet not everyone receives overtime pay. Executives, teachers, managers, and others are not required by law to receive overtime pay (US Cong. Federal Labor). These and other occupations are labeled exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act. An exempt occupation, when paid, is not protected by the FLSA and can work as many hours as necessary without additional compensation. Under a new bill, S. 1747 The Computer Professionals Update Act, lawmakers would extend these exemptions to other computing professions (27-31). In an age when it's hard to find anyone with a good opinion of Congress, why would a senator propose a bill that would remove protections for IT workers? At first glance, such a proposition seems infuriating, and a quick Internet search leads to many IT bloggers and employee forum posts who are unhappy about it. However, to discover why more exemptions to the FLSA are being considered, we must examine the FLSA itself. When Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Frances Perkins to be his Secretary of Labor in 1933, she responded that she would only accept if "she could advocate a law setting a floor for wages and a ceiling for working hours." work and abolishing abuses linked to child labor. (U.S. Department of Labor. History) After President Roosevelt's agreement, Frances Perkins, with the help of lawyers, created the first draft of the FLSA. The bill set a minimum wage, governed by a wage board, and a cap on hours. However, there were no exemptions in the original bill. Exemptions to the bill were championed by two union leaders...... middle of document...... Of Law & Public Policy 32.3 (2009): 997-1013. Premier Academic Research. Internet. March 26, 2012Archives and National Archives. Department of Labor. Federal Register 69.79 (April 23, 2004) 22122-22190. Internet. March 25, 2012.---. Department of Labor. Federal Register 76:13 (January 20, 2011) 3637-3638. Internet. March 25, 2012 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development “LMF2.1: Usual working hours per week by gender” http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/30/40/43367847.pdf OECD., April 11, 2011. March 35, 2012. United States Congress. Proposed Bill S.1747 “IT Professional Update Act.” Library of Congress, October 20, 2011. Web. March 25, 2012.---. “Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended,” U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, May 2011. Web. March 25, 2012.---. “Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996.” Library of Congress, May 29, 1996. Web.March 25. 2012