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1997 SESSION


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 377
Memorializing Congress to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to better address the unique characteristics of emergency medical service employees, and to provide an overtime exemption for such employees similar to that provided for fire, police, and corrections employees.

Agreed to by the Senate, January 30, 1997
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 20, 1997

WHEREAS, the services provided by Emergency Medical Service (EMS) employees play a critical role in protecting the lives and health of citizens throughout the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, EMS employees work and live alongside their firefighter counterparts in fire stations on a 24-hour, 365-day-a-year basis and are an integral part of the emergency service delivery system; and

WHEREAS, providing effective and cost-efficient emergency medical services is best achieved by scheduling EMS employees to work 24-hour shifts rather than traditional eight-hour shifts; and

WHEREAS, a majority of EMS employees support the 24-hour shift versus the eight-hour shift; and

WHEREAS, the provisions of current federal law (29 USCS § 207) require that employers pay overtime compensation equal to one and one-half times the regular rate of compensation when an employee works longer than 40 hours in one week. The federal statute does provide an overtime exemption for the employers of fire, police and corrections personnel. The exemption allows employers of these employees to calculate overtime pay by averaging the number of hours worked over a period of 28 days rather than on a weekly basis, thereby reducing overtime costs for localities. This exemption permits localities to schedule employees in a more productive, economical, and efficient manner; and

WHEREAS, a recent judicial decision has resulted in the federal government interpreting 29 USCS § 207 in a manner that precludes a similar overtime exemption for EMS employers; and

WHEREAS, the lack of an overtime exemption for EMS personnel results in increased operating costs for localities and a reduction in operating efficiency; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That Congress be urged to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to better address the unique characteristics of emergency medical service employees and to provide an overtime exemption for such employees similar to that provided for fire, police and corrections employees; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the members of the Congressional Delegation of Virginia in order that they may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly in this matter.