SENATE BILL REPORT
SB 6277
As Reported By Senate Committee On:
Commerce & Labor, February 2, 1998
Title: An act relating to the minimum rate of compensation for certain bus drivers for employment in excess of a forty‑hour work week.
Brief Description: Compensating certain bus drivers for employment in excess of a forty‑hour work week.
Sponsors: Senators Newhouse, Heavey, Franklin, Schow, B. Sheldon, Sellar, Benton and Winsley.
Brief History:
Committee Activity: Commerce & Labor: 1/29/98, 2/2/98 [DP].
SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE
& LABOR
Majority Report: Do pass.
Signed by Senators Schow, Chair; Horn, Vice Chair; Anderson, Franklin, Fraser, Heavey and Newhouse.
Staff: Jack Brummel (786-7428)
Background: The federal Fair Labor Standards Act contains overtime pay provisions that apply to most work situations. The state has a similar law. The federal law contains an exemption for truck and bus drivers. The state law does not exempt truck and bus drivers subject to the federal exemption if they are paid on an hourly basis. The state Department of Labor and Industries has issued regulations consistent with the federal and state exemption for truck drivers but has not done so for bus drivers.
Summary of Bill: Bus drivers are not subject to the state's wage and hour laws if they are exempt from federal overtime provisions, their pay is more than 1 2 times the state=s minimum wage, and they are covered by a collective bargaining agreement which provides a uniform hourly wage intended to equal or exceed what would be received with overtime pay.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Not requested.
Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.
Testimony For: Unionized bus drivers have an agreement on wages that could be undermined by an adverse interpretation of existing law. This bill would clarify that state law is the same for truck and bus drivers.
Testimony Against: None.
Testified: Tony Thein, Holland American Lines (pro).