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“INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E367 on March 4, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION
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HON. MICHAEL D. CRAPO
of idaho
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, March 4, 1997
Mr. CRAPO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation in favor of economic opportunity and vitality. The Fair Labor Standards Act [FLSA] was designed to promote economic opportunity. There have been instances, however, when unintended consequences are revealed. When they do, it is our imperative to correct them properly so that FLSA will be applied consistently and continue to promote basic economic fairness, its original goal. One unintended consequence, however, impacts a major economic force in our country as well as my home State of Idaho: Agriculture.
FLSA itself recognizes that agriculture is a special industry and consequently contains numerous exceptions to the applicability of FLSA's ``time-and-a-half-overtime'' provisions. Unfortunately, a sugar beet is deemed ``not a vegetable'' under FLSA. As a result, no overtime is due a farmer's workers if the farmer transports sugar beets from his fields to the processing plant. If a farmer stockpiles his sugar beets in an effort to be more efficient and then contracts transportation with a hauler to bring these same vegetables to that same plant, however, the hauler is nevertheless required to pay his drivers overtime. This occurs even though those plant workers are also exempt from FLSA's overtime provisions. The scenario is not hypothetical; it occurs regularly to one constituent of mine who has for years been involved in the annual beet haul involving sugar beets. Ironically, applying FLSA to the beet haul actually lowers the compensation that his truck drivers are actually paid.
In Idaho, the beet haul requires farmers to stockpile their crops in beet piles and await the processor's delivery instructions. Once processing begins, it is a 24-hour-per-day, 7 days a week affair, lasting from late September until early January. The most economically advantageous method--to both drivers and their employer--for compensating beet haul drivers is to pay them by the load.
Truck drivers who want to work, hustle loads; they are rewarded for the diligent work ethic. The less motivated worker earns less. Unfortunately, with respect to my constituent--and my constituent alone--the Department of Labor has insisted that FLSA's overtime provisions apply to the beet haul.
In theory, FLSA requires all beet haul operations to pay ``time-and-
a-half.'' In reality, my constituent's competitors never have been required to comply with this FLSA provision; that competitor still pays by the load. This is despite the fact that both hauling entities are regulated by the Federal Department of Transportation. The competitor hauls a small percentage from beet piles located in Oregon--that is the only difference. This circumstance harms my constituent since his diligent workers are paid less under this rule and he must still absorb higher labor costs. This disparate treatment has caused my constituent to lose his better drivers repeatedly to his competitor. They earn more working by the load; my constituent pays more because he is not treated the same as other beet haulers.
One might already assume that FLSA's agricultural exemptions would cure this inequity. It does not: a sugar beet as defined under the act is not a vegetable and therefore, the exemption does not apply, even though a sugar beet is, in fact, a vegetable. Consequently, the beet haul does not enjoy the FLSA agricultural exemption which applies to other agricultural endeavors.This inequality thus requires a definitional, that is, a legislative, solution. The legislation I propose is simple, direct, and in no way will interrupt the overall flow and impact of FLSA. This legislation seeks to include sugar beets as vegetables in FLSA. This legislation will level the playing field and enhance one of the actual goals of the statute: economic fairness.
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