Are minor league baseball players who play in Virginia covered by Virginia's overtime and minimum wage laws?

Subject

Whether players employed by the five MLB minor league clubs described in the request are exempt from Virginia overtime and minimum wage requirements.

Plain-English summary

Senator Pillion asked about players on five MLB minor league teams that held games in Virginia. The AG concluded that, on the stated facts and assumptions, their players were exempt from Virginia overtime and minimum wage requirements. He expressly limited the opinion to the facts presented and warned it could not be relied on if those facts were inaccurate or changed.

For overtime, the opinion applies a federal exemption for employees hired to play baseball who receive a contractual weekly salary during the championship season at least equal to 40 hours at the federal minimum wage. The request said the players met that salary condition. The AG therefore concluded that the baseball-specific exemption applied to them.

For minimum wage, the Virginia statute incorporated the federal exemption for employees of a seasonal amusement or recreational establishment. The facts said the clubs sold tickets to games open to the public. The AG also assumed that the establishments' operation was limited to presenting minor league baseball during the championship season at their stadiums. Given that assumption and schedules running April through September, he concluded the five teams met the seasonal test of operating no more than seven months in a calendar year. That exemption also applied to overtime.

The opinion does not decide how the exemptions apply to independent leagues, non-player staff, or a club with different operations or pay facts.

What this means for you

If you run one of the described clubs

The AG's conclusion depends on the stated player salary, the published season schedules, public ticketed games, and the assumption that the establishment's operation was limited to presenting championship-season games. A change in those facts calls for a new analysis.

If you are a player

The opinion addresses the five MLB-affiliated teams in the request. It says the stated facts satisfy the relevant overtime and minimum wage exemptions; it does not decide a claim arising from different employment terms.

Common questions

Does the opinion cover independent league teams?
No. Its conclusion is expressly limited to the five MLB minor league teams and facts presented.

Does it decide spring-training pay?
No. The quoted baseball-specific exemption refers to services during the championship season and excludes spring training and the off season from its terms. The opinion does not decide a separate spring-training claim.

What if a team's operations last more than seven months?
The AG did not analyze that situation for these teams. The federal seasonal exemption also contains a receipts test, but the opinion relied on the stated operating-period assumption and game schedules.

Background and statutory framework

Virginia's overtime remedy applies federal FLSA exemptions, including the baseball-specific exemption. The Virginia minimum wage statute likewise excludes a person exempt from the federal minimum wage under § 213(a)(3). The AG applied those provisions to the requester's facts and stated assumptions rather than announcing a rule for all baseball employers.

Citations and references

• 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(19) (baseball-specific overtime provision)
• 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(3) (seasonal amusement or recreational establishment)
• Jeffery v. Sarasota White Sox, Inc., 64 F.3d 590 (11th Cir. 1995) (cited in the seasonal analysis)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.oag.state.va.us/annual-reports-opinions/official-opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.oag.state.va.us/files/Opinions/2022/22-032-Pillion-issued.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative.

COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA

Office of the Attorney General

Jason S. Miyares
Attorney General
202 North Ninth Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
804-786-2071
Fax 804-786-1991
Virginia Relay Services

September 30, 2022

The Honorable Todd E. Pillion
Member, Senate of Virginia
851 French Moore Jr. Boulevard, Suite 178
Abingdon, Virginia 24210

Dear Senator Pillion:

I am responding to your request for an official advisory opinion in accordance with § 2.2-505 of the Code of Virginia.

ISSUES PRESENTED

You ask whether baseball players employed by certain Major League Baseball (MLB) minor league clubs are exempt from Virginia's overtime pay and minimum wage requirements.

RESPONSE

Based on the facts you provide, it is my opinion that baseball players employed by certain MLB minor league clubs are exempt from overtime pay and minimum wage requirements in Virginia. This opinion is dependent on and limited to the facts as you have presented them. This opinion cannot be relied on in the event of any inaccuracies or changes.

FACTS

You relate that there are five MLB minor league baseball teams that hold games at stadiums in Virginia. You advise that, pursuant to contract, the teams pay the players they employ a weekly salary for services performed during the championship season and that such salary is at least equal to the federal minimum wage for a 40-hour workweek. "Championship season" appears to be an industry term of art generally referring to the regular season, but specifically excluding any pre-season training and post-season or exhibition games.

To clarify what constitutes the championship season for each of the teams, you have provided their published game schedules for the 2022 season. The game schedules indicate that the 2022 season began on April 5 or 8, depending on the team, and is scheduled to end on September 11, 18, or 28, depending on the team. You also have provided printouts from the teams' webpages, which reflect that the teams sell tickets to the public to attend these games, either on a game-by-game basis or in packages.

APPLICABLE LAW AND DISCUSSION

1. Overtime pay requirements

Virginia law generally does not impose overtime pay requirements beyond the federal standards set forth in the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"); however, it provides a state-law remedy for employees of employers that violate applicable FLSA overtime provisions. In determining liability under state law, "all applicable exemptions . . . within the [FLSA] . . . shall apply."

Pertinent to your inquiry, the FLSA provides that overtime pay shall not apply to

any employee employed to play baseball who is compensated pursuant to a contract that provides for a weekly salary for services performed during the league's championship season (but not spring training or the off season) at a rate that is not less than a weekly salary equal to the minimum wage under section 6(a) [i.e., the federal minimum wage] for a workweek of 40 hours, irrespective of the number of hours the employee devotes to baseball related activities.

Your request indicates that all the MLB minor league baseball players in Virginia are compensated by contract for services performed during the championship season with a weekly salary that is at least equal to the federal minimum wage for a workweek of 40 hours. Applying the plain language of this provision to the facts as you have stated them, I conclude that the minor league baseball players in Virginia are exempt from overtime pay requirements.

I note that 29 U.S.C.S. § 213(a)(3), the FLSA provision discussed below that exempts employees of seasonally operated amusement or recreational establishments from minimum wage requirements also applies to overtime pay. Accordingly, to the extent a team qualifies as an eligible establishment, this provision of the FLSA also would exempt the team's players from overtime pay requirements.

2. Minimum wage requirements

The Virginia Minimum Wage Act sets forth Virginia's minimum wage requirements. Referencing the FLSA, it provides that "[a]ny person who is exempt from the federal minimum wage pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(3)" also is exempt from Virginia's requirements. In turn, 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(3) provides that, upon certain conditions, "any employee employed by an establishment which is an amusement or recreational establishment" is exempt from the federal minimum wage.

Establishments that are "frequented by the public for its amusement or recreation" are eligible. It is clear, based on the facts presented, that minor league baseball games are amusement or recreational; the games are open to the public, and as noted in the teams' webpages that you have provided, game tickets are sold either on an individual game basis or in packages. Courts have held that minor league baseball establishments qualify as "amusement" or "recreational."

To qualify for exemption from the federal minimum wage, any such establishment also must be able to demonstrate that it operates only on a seasonal basis. There are two ways this seasonality requirement can be met. First, the establishment can show that "during the preceding calendar year, its average receipts for any six months of such year were not more than 33 1/3 per centum of its average receipts for the other six months of such year . . . ." Alternatively, the establishment is deemed seasonal if it can show that it "does not operate for more than seven months in any calendar year . . . ." Accordingly, "an employer qualifies for exemption if it is a recreational and amusement establishment and it also satisfies either the seasonal operation test or the six-month receipts test."

Assuming that the establishments are limited to the presentation of minor league baseball by their respective teams during the championship season at each of the minor league stadiums, then consistent with Jeffery v. Sarasota White Sox, Inc., 64 F.3d 590 (11th Cir. 1995), and based on the schedules presented that demonstrate that the presentation of championship-season minor league baseball games to the public lasts from April through September, each of the five minor league teams would satisfy the seasonal exemption because none of them "operate for more than seven months in any calendar year."

CONCLUSION

Based on the facts provided and based on the assumptions set forth herein, it is my opinion that baseball players employed by certain Major League Baseball (MLB) minor league clubs are exempt from overtime pay and minimum wage requirements in Virginia.

With kindest regards, I am,

Very truly yours,

Jason S. Miyares
Attorney General