General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2005>Labor and Employment


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Labor and Employment

Passed

P HB1703

Volunteer firefighters; minors; emergency. Provides that ordinances of counties, cities and towns authorizing participation by minors aged 16 years or older in volunteer fire companies apply to minors resident anywhere in the Commonwealth. The measure also provides that localities by ordinance may authorize such minors to seek firefighter certification. Such minors who are members of a volunteer fire company are exempted from child labor provisions while participating in all activities of a volunteer fire company, but shall not enter a burning structure prior to obtaining firefighter certification except where such entry is necessary to obtain the firefighter certification. This bill contains an emergency clause and will take effect upon passage.
Patron - Kilgore

P HB1834

Labor violations; time for reporting complaint. Prohibits an employee from seeking relief via the administrative process through the Commissioner of Labor and Industry for discharge or discrimination as a result of reporting health or safety violations if the employee does not file his complaint within 60 days after the discharge or discrimination occurred. This bill is identical to SB 971.
Patron - Parrish

P HB1955

Boiler and pressure vessel inspections; expiration of certificate; inspection by Commonwealth. Authorizes the Commissioner to assign an agent or special inspector to inspect any boiler or pressure vessel 91 days after certificate expiration and assess an inspection fee against the owner or operator of the boiler or pressure vessel.
Patron - Jones, D.C.

P HB2393

Employee's day of rest. Repeals the statutory provisions governing the employee day of rest requirements.
Patron - Griffith

P HB2638

Failure or refusal to pay wages; penalty. Provides that an employer who fraudulently fails or refuses to pay wages is guilty of a Class 6 felony if the amount of wages is $10,000 or more or if it is a second or subsequent conviction. Under current law the refusal to pay wages is a Class 1 misdemeanor regardless of the amount. The bill also provides the determination as to the "value of the wages earned" shall be made by combining all wages the employer failed or refused to pay.
Patron - Ebbin

P HB2842

Payment of wages or salaries. Authorizes employers to pay wages by credit to a prepaid debit card or card account without the employee's consent if the employee has failed to designate a financial institution where payment may be deposited by automated fund transfer and if the employee is employed at a facility where amusement devices are operated.
Patron - Hargrove

P SB971

Labor violations; time for reporting complaint. Prohibits an employee from seeking relief via the administrative process through the Commissioner of Labor and Industry for discharge or discrimination as a result of reporting health or safety violations if the employee does not file his complaint within 60 days after the discharge or discrimination occurred. This bill is identical to HB 1834.
Patron - O'Brien

Failed

F HB2194

Employee day of rest; banking institutions. Exempts banking institutions from the requirement to provide employees one day of rest in any calendar week.
Patron - Abbitt

F SB705

Qualification for payment of overtime compensation. Provides that employers subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act shall pay wages for overtime in accordance with the regulations governing overtime pay that were in effect prior to August 23, 2004, except that the minimum qualifying salary for an exempt employee (i.e., an employee not entitled to overtime) shall be that set forth at 29 C.F.R. § 541.600, effective August 23, 2004. Regulations effective prior to August 23, 2004 required payment of overtime wages to employees earning wages at or below $8,060 per year. Employees earning more than $8,060 could qualify for overtime based on a further evaluation of their duties and responsibilities. Under the regulations effective August 23, 2004, employees earning less than $23,660 annually must be paid overtime compensation without consideration of their duties and responsibilities. Employees earning more than $23,660 may qualify for overtime compensation, depending on further evaluation of their duties and responsibilities. The regulations also distinguish between white collar and blue collar employees and direct that the latter can never be deemed exempt, and require that certain specific groups of employees (such as police officers, correctional officers and emergency medical technicians) are never to be considered exempt. See 29 C.F.R. § 541.3. At the same time, the regulations effective August 23, 2004 provide that an employee can spend unspecified amounts of time performing nonexempt tasks, yet be found exempt if his "primary duty" is management or supervision of other employees. Under the regulations in effect prior to August 23, 2004, an employee who spent more than 80 percent of his time performing nonexempt tasks was entitled to overtime, regardless of whether his work also involved management or supervision of other employees. See former 29 C.F.R. § 541.112 (providing that "An employee will not qualify for exemption as an executive if he devotes more than 20 percent...of his hours worked in the workweek to nonexempt work"). The bill retains the threshold wage of $23,660 established in the regulations in effect on August 23, 2004, and requires the application of the regulations in effect prior to August 23, 2004, for the purposes of evaluating whether an employee earning more than that threshold wage is entitled to overtime compensation.
Patron - Miller

F SB713

Parental leave for school involvement. Requires employers to permit employees who are parents or guardians of, or who stand in loco parentis to, a school-aged child to take up to four hours of leave annually in order to attend or otherwise be involved in the child's school. The employer and employee must mutually agree to the time for the leave, the leave need not be compensated, and the employer may require both 48 hours' advance notice of the leave and written verification from the school of the employee's involvement in the school.
Patron - Potts

F SB1172

Covenants not to compete. Establishes that a covenant between an employer and employee that restricts the employee's ability to compete with his employer following the termination of employment is enforceable if the restrictions are reasonable in duration, geographic area, and scope; the agreement is signed by the individual; the covenant is justified by the former employer's legitimate business interest; and the individual's agreement to the covenant is supported by consideration. The measure does not apply in actions to enforce a covenant entered into prior to July 1, 2005.
Patron - Stolle

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