The Conference Committee reached a compromise on the spending plan, which makes several amendments to the introduced spending plan. The Conference Report can be found here.
Today both the Senate and the House approved the Conference Report, which now heads to the Governor's desk.
The adopted spending plan includes the $250 million for ventilation improvements as well as the language to restore the option for public employers to use compensatory time in lieu of overtime, which we wrote about here last week.
In addition, the spending plan also includes the following additional amendment:
Line 1048, introduced, after § 207(o)
insert
, and the term "Employee" shall not include an individual described in 29 U.S.C. §203(e)(4). In addition to the provisions of subsection D of § 40.1-29.2 of the Code of Virginia, an employer may assert an exemption to the overtime requirements for employees who meet any of the exemptions set forth in 29 U.S.C. § 213 (a)
This additional language restores certain exemptions under the Virginia Overtime Wage Act and clarifies that certain volunteers are not considered employees under the Virginia Overtime Wage Act. This amendment was intended to address a concern that the Virginia Overtime Wage Act, passed earlier this year, may have conflicted with the practice of paying coaches a nominal stipend, which is permitted under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. With this language now in the budget, that practice with regard to coaches can continue.
