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.
