Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1979
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Education and Labor.
Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1979 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the minimum rate of overtime pay to two times the rate of regular pay. Reduces in two stages the maximum hours which an employee must work in order to qualify for overtime pay so that by 1983 an employee shall be entitled to overtime pay for a workweek in excess of 35 hours. Decreases the number of hours which certain employees who are excepted from the present 40 per week maximum hour rule must work in order to qualify for overtime pay. Prohibits any employer from knowingly permitting an employee to work overtime without the employee's consent. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to promulgate exceptions to such prohibition for emergency situations in which the production in an establishment would be severely jeopardized if no exception existed. Specifies a formula for determining liquidated damages for violations of such prohibition.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 1, 1979. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 1, 1979: Referred to House Committee on Education and Labor.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
JOHN CONYERS (D-MI) introduced it on February 1, 1979, and 12 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 12 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 1, 1979, 17388 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17388 days ago, on February 1, 1979.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers