AN ACT
Relating to exemptions from overtime compensation requirements; amending RCW
49.46.130; creating a new section; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE
OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
49.46.130 and 1993 c 191 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
Except as otherwise provided in this section, no employer shall employ any of
his employees for a work week longer than forty hours unless such employee
receives compensation for his employment in excess of the hours above specified
at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is
employed.
(2)
This section does not apply to:
(a)
Any person exempted pursuant to RCW 49.46.010(5). The payment of compensation
or provision of compensatory time off in addition to a salary shall not be a
factor in determining whether a person is exempted under RCW 49.46.010(5)(c);
(b)
Employees who request compensating time off in lieu of overtime pay;
(c)
Any individual employed as a seaman whether or not the seaman is employed on a
vessel other than an American vessel;
(d)
Seasonal employees who are employed at concessions and recreational
establishments at agricultural fairs, including those seasonal employees
employed by agricultural fairs, within the state provided that the period of
employment for any seasonal employee at any or all agricultural fairs does not
exceed fourteen working days a year;
(e)
Any individual employed as a motion picture projectionist if that employee is
covered by a contract or collective bargaining agreement which regulates hours
of work and overtime pay;
(f) An
individual employed as a truck or bus driver who is subject to the provisions
of the Federal Motor Carrier Act (49 U.S.C. Sec. 3101 et seq. and 49 U.S.C.
Sec. 10101 et seq.), if the compensation system under which the truck or bus
driver is paid includes overtime pay, reasonably equivalent to that required by
this subsection, for working longer than forty hours per week;
(g)
Any individual employed (i) on a farm, in the employ of any person, in
connection with the cultivation of the soil, or in connection with raising or
harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity, including raising,
shearing, feeding, caring for, training, and management of livestock, bees,
poultry, and furbearing animals and wildlife, or in the employ of the owner or
tenant or other operator of a farm in connection with the operation,
management, conservation, improvement, or maintenance of such farm and its
tools and equipment; or (ii) in packing, packaging, grading, storing or
delivering to storage, or to market or to a carrier for transportation to
market, any agricultural or horticultural commodity; or (iii) commercial
canning, commercial freezing, or any other commercial processing, or with
respect to services performed in connection with the cultivation, raising,
harvesting, and processing of oysters or in connection with any agricultural or
horticultural commodity after its delivery to a terminal market for
distribution for consumption;
(h)
Any industry in which federal law provides for an overtime payment based on a
work week other than forty hours. However, the provisions of the federal law
regarding overtime payment based on a work week other than forty hours shall
nevertheless apply to employees covered by this section without regard to the
existence of actual federal jurisdiction over the industrial activity of the
particular employer within this state. For the purposes of this subsection, "industry"
means a trade, business, industry, or other activity, or branch, or group
thereof, in which individuals are gainfully employed (section 3(h) of the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended (Public Law 93-259).
(3) No
employer of commissioned salespeople primarily engaged in the business of
selling automobiles, trucks, recreational vessels, recreational vessel
trailers, recreational vehicle trailers, recreational campers, or manufactured
housing to ultimate purchasers shall violate subsection (1) of this section
with respect to such commissioned salespeople if the commissioned salespeople
are paid the greater of:
(a)
Compensation at the hourly rate, which may not be less than the rate required
under RCW 49.46.020, for each hour worked up to forty hours per week, and
compensation of one and one-half times that hourly rate for all hours worked
over forty hours in one week; or
(b) A
straight commission, a salary plus commission, or a salary plus bonus applied
to gross salary.
(4) No
public agency shall be deemed to have violated subsection (1) of this section
with respect to the employment of any employee in fire protection activities or
any employee in law enforcement activities (including security personnel in
correctional institutions) if: (a) In a work period of twenty-eight
consecutive days the employee receives for tours of duty which in the aggregate
exceed two hundred forty hours; or (b) in the case of such an employee to whom
a work period of at least seven but less than twenty-eight days applies, in his
or her work period the employee receives for tours of duty which in the
aggregate exceed a number of hours which bears the same ratio to the number of
consecutive days in his or her work period as two hundred forty hours bears to
twenty-eight days; compensation at a rate not less than one and one-half times
the regular rate at which he or she is employed.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 2. This act
is intended to clarify the original intent of RCW 49.46.010(5)(c). This act
applies to all administrative and judicial actions commenced on or after
February 1, 1995, and pending on the effective date of this act, and such
actions commenced on or after the effective date of this act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. This act
is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or
safety, or support of the state government and its existing public
institutions, and shall take effect immediately.
