AN ACT Relating to overtime compensation for employees of motor carriers hauling in interstate commerce; amending RCW 49.46.130; creating a new section; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that there is a need to provide certainty with respect to the application of overtime compensation standards to employees of motor carriers hauling in interstate commerce. The legislature further finds that prior to the filing of the Washington supreme court decision in COMMON CARRIERS, INC. V. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIES, 111 Wn.2d 586, 762 P.2d 248 (1988) on October 20, 1988, most people in the trucking industry did not believe that Washington's overtime compensation law applied to employees of motor carriers hauling in interstate commerce, and most collective bargaining agreements relating to interstate drivers reflected this understanding. The legislature intends by this act to apply the principle of the Common Carriers decision prospectively only.

Sec. 2. Section 1, chapter 104, Laws of 1989 and RCW 49.46.130 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) 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, except that the provisions of this subsection (1) shall not apply to:

(a) Any person exempted pursuant to RCW 49.46.010(5) ((~~as now or hereafter amended and the provision of this subsection shall not apply to~~));

(b) Employees who request compensating time off in lieu of overtime pay!se ((~~nor to~~));

(c) Any individual employed as a seaman whether or not the seaman is employed on a vessel other than an American vessel((~~, nor to~~));

(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((~~, nor to~~));

(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((~~, nor to~~));

(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; or

(g) Prior to October 20, 1988, employees of motor carriers hauling in interstate commerce and subject to regulation by Part 1 of the Interstate Commerce Act.

(2) 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 and 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 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 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 is employed: PROVIDED, That this section shall not apply to 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: PROVIDED FURTHER, That in any industry in which federal law provides for an overtime payment based on a work week other than forty hours then provisions of this section shall not apply; 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: PROVIDED FURTHER, That "industry" as that term is used in this section shall mean 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).

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.