Sponsors (6)
The bill clarifies and expedites an exemption for truly seasonal outdoor outfitters—helping small operators and local recreation services by lowering labor costs and reducing regulatory uncertainty—while shifting risk onto seasonal workers through reduced wage/overtime protections, misclassification risk, and possible short-term disruption.
Seasonal outdoor business owners (small-business-owners) can treat employees as exempt when the business truly operates <8 months, letting them lower seasonal labor costs and better manage staffing year-round.
Customers and residents in rural or tourist areas (rural-communities) are more likely to retain local outdoor recreation services because smaller seasonal operators may remain viable with lower labor costs.
Employers and payroll departments (small-business-owners) get clearer rules — a 7-month rule or 33% receipts test and explicit payroll timing — reducing uncertainty for business planning and when the change takes effect.
Seasonal outfitters' employees (young-adults, middle-class-families) who are primarily engaged in outfitting or guiding could lose overtime and minimum-wage protections, reducing earnings.
Workers in businesses that narrowly meet the 7-month or 33% receipts thresholds (young-adults, middle-class-families) face a heightened risk of misclassification as exempt, causing pay instability and potential legal disputes.
Employers (small-business-owners) must implement immediate payroll changes and could incur compliance costs; if they cannot adjust staffing quickly, some may cut hours or hiring, which reduces workers' short-term income.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Adds a new FLSA exemption for employees primarily engaged in outdoor recreational outfitting or guiding when employed by highly seasonal or small‑receipt businesses.
Official title: To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exempt certain employees engaged in outdoor recreational outfitting or guiding services from minimum wage and maximum hours requirements.
Introduced May 19, 2025 by Burgess Owens · Last progress May 19, 2025
Creates a new Fair Labor Standards Act exemption for employees whose primary duties are outdoor recreational outfitting (including equipment rentals) or guiding services when employed by businesses that either operate seven months or less per year or have highly seasonal receipts (one six‑month period averaging no more than 33% of the other six months). The change makes those workers in qualifying seasonal or small‑receipt businesses exempt from federal minimum wage and overtime protections for workweeks beginning on or after enactment. The bill is short and narrowly focused: it adds the exemption, defines the seasonal/receipts tests by cross‑reference to existing FLSA language, and sets the effective date for wages and overtime to the first workweek beginning on or after enactment.