Driver Pay Bill Introduced
'Hour's Pay for an Hour's Work' bill calls for truck drivers to be paid at least the minimum wage for all hours worked, ending the exemption that has kept truck drivers from receiving overtime pay.
EVAN LOCKRIDGE
NEWS EDITOR
A bill that started out as a plan to require that truck drivers be paid for on-duty, non-driving time has been introduced in Congress, but it attacks the problem from a different angle.
Early this year, Donald Payne, D-N.J., said he planned to introduce the Fair Wage Act. It would have required that truckers be paid for non-driving tasks they do every day, such as fueling, inspecting their trucks, filling out logbooks and waiting to load and unload.
However, the bill as introduced recently into the U.S. House of Representatives is different. Instead, it calls for truck drivers to be paid at least the minimum wage for all hours worked.
Known as the "Hour's Pay for an Hour's Work Act of 2002," H.R. 4762 would amend the Fair Wage Labor Standards Act of 1938, ending the exemption that has kept truck drivers from receiving overtime pay.
The new legislation would apply only to company drivers working full time if their total wages for a week do not average out to at least the minimum wage, currently $5.15 an hour. However, the legislation reportedly would require the truck driver to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board or file suit against their employer.
At press time the bill had yet to receive any co-sponsors, meaning its chances for passage are slim.
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