H. R. 6346
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 2, 2012
Mr. Rehberg (for himself, Mr. Hastings of Florida, and Mr. Bonner) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide a specific limited exemption from the overtime pay requirements of such Act for work related to insurance claims adjustment after a major disaster.
Limited exemption for insurance claims adjusters
Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 207) is amended by adding at the end the following:
The provisions of this section shall not apply for a period of 24 months after the occurrence of a major disaster to any employee employed in insurance claims adjusting by an employer not engaged, directly or through an affiliate, in underwriting, selling, or marketing property, casualty, or liability insurance policies or contracts and who is working on insurance claims resulting from or relating to such major disaster—
who receives from such employer an average weekly income of not less than $591.00 per week for the number of weeks such employee is engaged in any of the activities described in subparagraph (B); and
whose duties include any of the following:
interviewing insured individuals, witnesses, or physicians;
inspecting property damage or reviewing factual information to prepare damage estimates;
evaluating and making recommendations regarding coverage of claims or determining liability or value aspects of claims;
negotiating settlements; or
making recommendations regarding litigation.
Notwithstanding any provision of section 18, in the event of a major disaster, this Act exclusively shall govern all such employers in lieu of any State law or regulation or local law or regulation, with respect to the employees described in paragraph (1).
The exemption in this subsection shall not affect the exemption provided by section 13(a)(1).
For purposes of this subsection—
the term major disaster means any natural catastrophe, including any hurricane, tornado, storm, high water, winddriven water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, snowstorm, or drought, or, regardless of cause, any fire, flood, or explosion;
the term employee employed in insurance claims adjusting means an individual who is employed by an employer that has secured or in a timely manner secures applicable licensure for itself and its employees as required to engage in and perform the activities described in clauses (i) through (v) of paragraph (1)(B) relating to a major disaster and that maintains worker compensation insurance coverage or protection for its employees and withholds applicable Federal, State, and local income and payroll taxes from the wages, salaries and benefits of such employees;
the term affiliate means a company that, by reason of ownership or control of 25 percent or more of the outstanding shares of any class of voting securities of one or more companies, directly or indirectly, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, another company.