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On rehearing Eleventh Circuit Re-affirms Overtime Exemption For Airport Shuttle Drivers

With only a minor change to one footnote in its original opinion, the Eleventh Circuit reaffirmed its earlier decision that airport shuttle drivers were exempt from the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.  The so-called Motor Carrier Exemption applies when the employee's hours are subject to regulation by the Secretary of Transportation, whether or not they are actually regulated.  The Court held that airport shuttle drivers who transported passengers between the airport (or ship terminal) and their hotel as part of a pre-booked and pre-paid interstate trip fell within this exemption.  Even though they never actually travelled out-of-state the drivers were engaged in transporting passengers in interstate commerce; accordingly the Secretary of Transportation had the statutory power to regulate their work hours.  They were therefore within scope of the Motor Carrier Exemption and were not entitled to receive overtime compensation.


Read the decision in Abel v. Southern Shuttle Services, Inc. here:  http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov

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