EMPLOYMENT LAW: THE FAA'S EXEMPTION FROM THE FLSA-MANDATED OVERTIME-PAY PROVISION AFTER THE APPROPRIATIONS ACT OF 1996

摘要

In Abbey v. United States, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated the ruling of the Court of Federal Claims that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) violated the overtime-pay provision of the Fair Labor and Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA). The Federal Circuit held instead that, even though no statute stated it, the FAA was still authorized to depart from the FLSA's overtime-pay provision. The court interpreted both the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1996 (Appropriations Act) and Federal Aviation Reauthorization Act of 1996 (Reauthorization Act) together and determined that Congress did not intend to discontinue the exemption under which the FAA had operated. However, as the dissent argued, this is too generous a reading of these statutes, and the plain, unambiguous language of the Appropriations Act does not allow for the interpretation given by the circuit court. Therefore, the Federal Circuit should have upheld the Court of Federal Claims's ruling.