Resolution in Support of Reform of Wage and Hour Laws Exposed

The Resolution in Support of Reform of Wage and Hour Laws does not include adoption or approval information. ALEC has attempted to distance itself from this piece of legislation after the launch of ALECexposed.org in 2011, but it has done nothing to get it repealed in the states where it previously pushed for it to be made into law.

ALEC Bill Text

Summary

This Resolution in Support of Reform of Wage and Hour Laws recognizes that laws such as the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) were for the most part enacted in the 1930s and often act as a barrier to flexible scheduling and compensation practices that are necessary in the workplace of the 2 1 st Century. The demographics of the workforce have changed dramatically since enactment of such laws; yet most wage and hour laws have not kept up with these changes. An increase in “non-traditional” jobs and types of work systems has made it extremely difficult to determine which employees are covered by the law and how the law should be applied and enforced.

Model Resolution

WHEREAS, federal and state wage and hour laws such as the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) were enacted in the 1930s and are still vigorously enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor and state labor departments, with little flexibility for the changing demographics of the modern workplace; and

WHEREAS, government emities at all levels have passed additional labor and employment laws, such as the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that contain provisions compromising the steadfast rules under the FLSA (i.e., if a salaried employee’s pay is docked for a partial day’s leave under the FMLA, it may compromise that employee’s exempt status with respect to the FLSA); and

WHEREAS, employers should be given the option of offering employees “flex” time -- whereby overtime would be determined through alternatives other than an eight-hour day; and

WHEREAS, an employee’s “regular rate” for purposes of calculating overtime premiums should be the employee’s base salary or wage to avoid the difficulty of calculating additional payments such as performance bonuses, shift differentials, or in-kind payments; and

WHEREAS, private employers should be given the option of offering employees compensatory time instead of overtime pay for overtime worked, which is an option that public employers already possess; and

WHEREAS, the first and last trip of each day that is within the geographic territory normally covered by an employee who drives a company-owned vehicle should not be compensable absent a contrary agreement between the employee and employer; and

WHEREAS, an employer should not be required to reimburse employees for travel or relocation expenses in order to meet an employer’s minimum wage obligation; and

WHEREAS, an individual should be considered a volunteer and not an employee of an entity, regardless of its nature, if the individual agrees to perform the work without pay for the entity, in the absence of a promise of employment by the entity; and

WHEREAS, prison and jail inmates should be excluded from the FLSA, and any liability that may have accrued to state and local governments as a result of the misapplication of the FLSA to inmates should be eliminated, and

WHEREAS, time spent in voluntary training provided by the employer outside of the regular working hours should not be counted as hours worked; and

WHEREAS, federal and state labor departments should be prohibited from seeking back pay on legal theories not yet established in the courts; and

WHEREAS, federal and state labor department opinions or interpretations that do not go through the proper regulatory process should have no force of law except to continue to provide a defense for employers who act in good faith reliance on department opinions or interpretations; and

WHEREAS, the current definition of “employ” prohibits self-initiation by hourly workers who wish to put forth extra effort in furtherance of their own skills and careers by, for example, performing preparatory activities in anticipation of their normal duties (i.e., arriving to their work station early, getting their tools lined up for the day’s work, reviewing the day’s schedule, etc.); and

WHEREAS, employers should be able to provide supplemental compensation to salaried exempt employees for working in excess of 40 per week without losing the exempt status of such employees or otherwise violating the “salary basis” test of such classification; and

WHEREAS, disciplinary deduction of less than a week should not destroy the exempt status of salaried employees;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the State/Commonwealth of (insert state) urges governments at all levels to reform archaic wage and hour laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to meet the demands of the modern workplace; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this Resolution be sent to each member of Congress.