Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

****
68th Legislature 2023                                                                                            SB 444.1
                                                SENATE BILL NO. 444
   INTRODUCED BY J. SMALL, D. SALOMON, E. MCCLAFFERTY, L. JONES, W. MCKAMEY, S. MORIGEAU,
                   J. KASSMIER, M. BERTOGLIO, S. O'BRIEN, T. BROCKMAN, G. NIKOLAKAKOS
  4
  A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT REVISING LAWS RELATED TO WORK-BASED LEARNING
  PROGRAMS; REQUIRING WRITTEN AGREEMENTS FOR WORK-BASED LEARNING PROGRAMS AND
  SPECIFIC ELEMENTS TO QUALIFY FOR EXEMPTION FROM CERTAIN WAGE LAWS; AMENDING
  SECTION 39-3-406, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.”
  9
  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
 11
          NEW SECTION. Section 1.         Work-based learning programs -- requirements of agreements. (1) A
  work-based learning program operated in compliance with 20-7-1510 must include a written agreement
  executed by the pupil and the pupil's parent or guardian, the school in which the pupil is enrolled, and the work-
  based learning partner. The agreement must include:
          (a)       a provision prioritizing accommodation of the pupil's academic commitments by corresponding
  to the academic calendar and the pupil's course schedule;
          (b)       a provision for periodic assessment to ensure ongoing beneficial learning and to complete the
  work-based learning experience when beneficial learning is complete;
          (c)       a description of how the pupil's classroom activities and on-the-job experiences will be planned
  and supervised to ensure that both activities are structured as an educational environment; and
          (d)       a designation of the academic credit that will be awarded to the pupil through the pupil's
  participation in the work-based learning experience.
          (2)       To qualify for exclusion under 39-3-406(1)(a), the agreement must contain the following in
  addition to the requirements in subsection (1) of this section:
          (a)       a clear statement that there is no expectation of compensation;
          (b)       a confirmation that the pupil's involvement in the work-based learning experience
  complements, rather than displaces, the work of paid employees while providing significant educational benefits
                                                               -1-                     Authorized Print Version – SB 444
****
68th Legislature 2023                                                                                               SB 444.1
  to the pupil; and
          (c)         a provision confirming that the work-based learning experience is conducted without
  entitlement to a paid job at the conclusion of the experience.
  4
          Section 2. Section 39-3-406, MCA, is amended to read:
          "39-3-406.      Exclusions. (1) The provisions of 39-3-404 and 39-3-405 do not apply with respect to:
          (a)         students participating in a distributive education program established under the auspices of an
  accredited educational agency, including a work-based learning program operated in compliance with 20-7-
  1510 and [section 1(2)];
          (b)         persons employed in private homes whose duties consist of menial chores, such as
  babysitting, mowing lawns, and cleaning sidewalks;
          (c)         persons employed directly by the head of a household to care for children dependent upon the
  head of the household;
          (d)         immediate members of the family of an employer or persons dependent upon an employer for
  half or more of their support in the customary sense of being a dependent;
          (e)         persons who are not regular employees of a nonprofit organization and who voluntarily offer
  their services to a nonprofit organization on a fully or partially reimbursed basis;
          (f)         persons with disabilities engaged in work that is incidental to training or evaluation programs or
  whose earning capacity is so severely impaired that they are unable to engage in competitive employment;
          (g)         apprentices or learners, who may be exempted by the commissioner for a period not to exceed
  30 days of their employment;
          (h)         learners under the age of 18 who are employed as farm workers, provided that the exclusion
  may not exceed 180 days from their initial date of employment and further provided that during this exclusion
  period, wages paid the learners may not be less than 50% of the minimum wage rate established in this part;
          (i)         retired or semiretired persons performing part-time incidental work as a condition of their
  residence on a farm or ranch;
          (j)         an individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity, as
  these terms are defined by regulations of the commissioner, a computer systems analyst, computer
                                                                 -2-                      Authorized Print Version – SB 444
****
68th Legislature 2023                                                                                               SB 444.1
  programmer, software engineer, network administrator, or other similarly skilled computer employee who earns
  not less than $27.63 an hour pursuant to 29 CFR 541.400 or 541.402, or an individual employed in an outside
  sales capacity pursuant to 29 CFR 541.500;
          (k)      an individual employed by the United States of America;
          (l)      resident managers employed in lodging establishments or assisted living facilities who, under
  the terms of their employment, live in the establishment or facility;
          (m)      a direct seller as defined in 26 U.S.C. 3508;
          (n)      a person placed as a participant in a public assistance program authorized by Title 53 into a
  work setting for the purpose of developing employment skills. The placement may be with either a public or
  private employer. The exclusion does not apply to an employment relationship formed in the work setting
  outside the scope of the employment skills activities authorized by Title 53.
          (o)      a person serving as a foster parent, licensed as a foster care provider in accordance with 52-2-
  621, and providing care without wage compensation to no more than six foster children in the provider's own
  residence. The person may receive reimbursement for providing room and board, obtaining training, respite
  care, leisure and recreational activities, and providing for other needs and activities arising in the provision of in-
  home foster care.
          (p)      an employee employed in domestic service employment to provide companionship services, as
  defined in 29 CFR 552.6, or respite care for individuals who, because of age or infirmity, are unable to care for
  themselves as provided under section 213(a)(15) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. 213, when the
  person providing the service is employed directly by a family member or an individual who is a legal guardian;
          (q)      an employee of a seasonal nonprofit establishment that is an organized camp or religious or
  educational conference center; or
          (r)      a student enrolled at a postsecondary educational institution who assists with the
  implementation of student housing programs and receives full or partial remuneration in the form of free or
  reduced housing in a university or campus-owned housing facility.
          (2)      The provisions of 39-3-405 do not apply to:
          (a)      an employee with respect to whom the United States secretary of transportation has power to
  establish qualifications and maximum hours of service pursuant to the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 31502;
                                                                -3-                      Authorized Print Version – SB 444
****
68th Legislature 2023                                                                                              SB 444.1
          (b)      an employee of an employer subject to 49 U.S.C. 10501 and 49 U.S.C. 60501, the provisions
  of part I of the Interstate Commerce Act;
          (c)      an individual employed as an outside buyer of poultry, eggs, cream, or milk, in their raw or
  natural state;
          (d)      a salesperson, parts person, or mechanic paid on a commission or contract basis and primarily
  engaged in selling or servicing automobiles, trucks, mobile homes, recreational vehicles, or farm implements if
  the salesperson, parts person, or mechanic is employed by a nonmanufacturing establishment primarily
  engaged in the business of selling the vehicles or implements to ultimate purchasers;
          (e)      a salesperson primarily engaged in selling trailers, boats, or aircraft if the salesperson is
  employed by a nonmanufacturing establishment primarily engaged in the business of selling trailers, boats, or
  aircraft to ultimate purchasers;
          (f)      a salesperson paid on a commission or contract basis who is primarily engaged in selling
  advertising for a radio or television station employer;
          (g)      an employee employed as a driver or driver's helper making local deliveries who is
  compensated for the employment on the basis of trip rates or other delivery payment plan if the commissioner
  finds that the plan has the general purpose and effect of reducing hours worked by the employees to or below
  the maximum workweek applicable to them under 39-3-405;
          (h)      an employee employed in agriculture or in connection with the operation or maintenance of
  ditches, canals, reservoirs, or waterways that are not owned or operated for profit, that are not operated on a
  sharecrop basis, and that are used exclusively for supply and storing of water for agricultural purposes;
          (i)      an employee employed in agriculture by a farmer, notwithstanding other employment of the
  employee in connection with livestock auction operations in which the farmer is engaged as an adjunct to the
  raising of livestock, either alone or in conjunction with other farmers, if the employee is:
          (i)      primarily employed during a workweek in agriculture by a farmer; and
          (ii)     paid for employment in connection with the livestock auction operations at a wage rate not less
  than that prescribed by 39-3-404;
          (j)      an employee of an establishment commonly recognized as a country elevator, including an
  establishment that sells products and services used in the operation of a farm if no more than five employees
                                                                 -4-                     Authorized Print Version – SB 444
****
68th Legislature 2023                                                                                                SB 444.1
  are employed by the establishment;
           (k)      a driver employed by an employer engaged in the business of operating taxicabs;
           (l)      an employee who is employed with the employee's spouse by a nonprofit educational
  institution to serve as the parents of children who are orphans or one of whose natural parents is deceased or
  who are enrolled in the institution and reside in residential facilities of the institution so long as the children are
  in residence at the institution and so long as the employee and the employee's spouse reside in the facilities
  and receive, without cost, board and lodging from the institution and are together compensated, on a cash
  basis, at an annual rate of not less than $10,000;
           (m)      an employee employed in planting or tending trees; cruising, surveying, or felling timber; or
  transporting logs or other forestry products to a mill, processing plant, railroad, or other transportation terminal if
  the number of employees employed by the employer in the forestry or lumbering operations does not exceed
  eight;
           (n)      an employee of a sheriff's office who is working under an established work period in lieu of a
  workweek pursuant to 7-4-2509(1);
           (o)      an employee of a municipal or county government who is working under a work period not
  exceeding 40 hours in a 7-day period established through a collective bargaining agreement when a collective
  bargaining unit represents the employee or by mutual agreement of the employer and employee when a
  bargaining unit is not recognized. Employment in excess of 40 hours in a 7-day, 40-hour work period must be
  compensated at a rate of not less than 1 1/2 times the hourly wage rate for the employee.
           (p)      an employee of a hospital or other establishment primarily engaged in the care of the sick,
  disabled, aged, or mentally ill or disordered who is working under a work period not exceeding 80 hours in a 14-
  day period established through either a collective bargaining agreement when a collective bargaining unit
  represents the employee or by mutual agreement of the employer and employee when a bargaining unit is not
  recognized. Employment in excess of 8 hours a day or 80 hours in a 14-day period must be compensated for at
  a rate of not less than 1 1/2 times the hourly wage rate for the employee.
           (q)      a firefighter who is working under a work period established in a collective bargaining
  agreement entered into between a public employer and a firefighters' organization or its exclusive
  representative;
                                                                 -5-                      Authorized Print Version – SB 444
****
68th Legislature 2023                                                                                                SB 444.1
          (r)      an officer or other employee of a police department in a city of the first or second class who is
  working under a work period established by the chief of police under 7-32-4118;
          (s)      an employee of a department of public safety working under a work period established
  pursuant to 7-32-115;
          (t)      an employee of a retail establishment if the employee's regular rate of pay exceeds 1 1/2 times
  the minimum hourly rate applicable under section 206 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. 206,
  and if more than half of the employee's compensation for a period of not less than 1 month is derived from
  commissions on goods and services;
          (u)      a person employed as a guide, cook, camp tender, outfitter's assistant, or livestock handler by
  a licensed outfitter as defined in 37-47-101;
          (v)      an employee employed as a radio announcer, news editor, or chief engineer by an employer in
  a second- or third-class city or a town;
          (w)      an employee of the consolidated legislative branch as provided in 5-2-503;
          (x)      an employee of the state or its political subdivisions employed, at the employee's option, on an
  occasional or sporadic basis in a capacity other than the employee's regular occupation. Only the hours that the
  employee was employed in a capacity other than the employee's regular occupation may be excluded from the
  calculation of hours to determine overtime compensation.
          (y)      an employee of an air carrier subject to the provisions of 45 U.S.C. 181, et seq., whose hours
  worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek were not required by the air carrier but were arranged through a
  voluntary agreement among employees to trade scheduled work hours."
 21
          NEW SECTION. Section 3.            Codification instruction. [Section 1] is intended to be codified as an
  integral part of Title 20, chapter 7, part 3, and the provisions of Title 20, chapter 7, part 3, apply to [section 1].
 24
          NEW SECTION. Section 4.            Effective date. [This act] is effective July 1, 2023.
                                                           - END -
                                                                  -6-                      Authorized Print Version – SB 444
Statutes affected: 
SB0444_1.pdf: 39-3-406
Introduced: 39-3-406