Bill Would Apply FLSA Maximum Hours Requirement to Over-the-Road Bus Drivers

On December 12 Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) introduced a bill that would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to make over-the-road bus drivers subject to the law’s maximum hours requirement. The Driver Fatigue Prevention Act (S. 1977) would revise Section 13(b)(1) of the FLSA, which exempts “any employee with respect to whom the Secretary of Transportation has power to establish qualifications and maximum hours of service” from the Act’s overtime provisions, to make an exception for over-the-road bus drivers. Over-the-road buses are those “characterized by an elevated passenger deck located over a baggage compartment.”

This bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP).