Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Ark.) said on Monday that volunteers at children’s consignment events should be exempt from Department of Labor regulations, and he has introduced the Children’s Consignment Event Recognition Act to protect consignment business owners.
Griffin said the DOL’s regulations prevent new companies, such as those that hold consignment events to provide affordable clothing for children, from having a profitable business. The new bill would exempt those events from the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The legislation stems from an audit performed by the DOL on Rhea Lana’s, Inc. The business uses volunteers to facilitate short-term consignment sales. The consigners volunteer time and services to Rhea Lana’s in exchange for early shopping access and 70 percent of their sales, according to Griffin.
The DOL determined that these volunteers were employees because of the amount of compensation they received, and therefore subject to FLSA. The decision by the DOL required Rhea Lana Riner to adjust her business model, and caused her to reduce the number of consignment sales she can facilitate, Griffin said.
“My legislation would exempt children’s consignment events from these costly, unnecessary and burdensome regulations so that our economy can continue to grow naturally, from the bottom up,” Griffin said.
The bill was introduced on Sept. 25 and awaits approval in committee.