[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 324 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 324

   To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exclude from the 
   definition of employee firefighters and rescue squad workers who 
  perform volunteer services and to prevent employers from requiring 
   employees who are firefighters or rescue squad workers to perform 
   volunteer services, and to allow an employer not to pay overtime 
   compensation to a firefighter or rescue squad worker who performs 
      volunteer services for the employer, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             February 1 (legislative day, January 30), 1995

  Mr. Warner (for himself, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Simpson, Mr. 
 Brown, Mr. Gregg, and Mr. Roth) introduced the following bill; which 
    was read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and Human 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exclude from the 
   definition of employee firefighters and rescue squad workers who 
  perform volunteer services and to prevent employers from requiring 
   employees who are firefighters or rescue squad workers to perform 
   volunteer services, and to allow an employer not to pay overtime 
   compensation to a firefighter or rescue squad worker who performs 
      volunteer services for the employer, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Volunteer Firefighter and Rescue 
Squad Worker Act''.

SEC. 2. FIREFIGHTER AND RESCUE SQUAD SERVICES.

    Section 3(e)(4) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
203(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
    ``(C) The term `employee' does not include a firefighter or a 
member of a rescue squad during the period in which the firefighter or 
rescue squad member volunteers to perform firefighting or rescue squad 
services at a location where the firefighter or member is not then or 
regularly employed.''.

SEC. 3. WAIVER OF OVERTIME COMPENSATION.

    The employer of a firefighter or member of a rescue squad shall not 
be required to pay the firefighter or member overtime compensation 
under section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 for a period 
during which the firefighter or member--
            (1) volunteered to perform services for the employer; and
            (2) signed a legally binding waiver of such compensation.

SEC. 4. COERCION.

    Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 207) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(r) No employer may require (directly or indirectly) an employee 
who is a firefighter or member of a rescue squad to volunteer the 
employee's firefighting or rescue squad services during any period in 
which the employee would be entitled to receive compensation for 
overtime employment under subsection (a).''.
                                 <all>