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===Expansion of Overtime Eligibility=====Background===
Regulations in Relation to Small Businesses (view source)
Revision as of 19:23, 10 February 2016
, 19:23, 10 February 2016→Effects & Consequences
*Will this make electricity more costly for people, in particular small businesses?
*Expected to be implemented late 2016
*On March 13, 2014, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Department of Labor to update the regulations defining which white collar workers are protected by the FLSA's minimum wage and overtime standards [http://www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/nprm2015/ (DOL)]
*The memorandum instructed the Department to look for ways to modernize and simplify the regulations while ensuring that the FLSA's intended overtime protections are fully implemented [http://www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/nprm2015/ (DOL)]
===Rule===
*Previously:
**”Salaried workers who earn below $455 per week, or $23,660 per year, are automatically eligible for overtime pay–regardless of the nature of their job or the duties they perform.” [http://www.alternet.org/economy/8-questions-answered-about-obamas-new-proposed-overtime-pay-increase (Alternet)]
**Many white-collar workers with very low salaries (sometimes just above the overtime threshold) can be classified by their employers as professionals, administrators, or executives–and thus exempted from overtime pay
*Proposed changes:
**New rule states that any salaried worker who earns less than $50,440 (40th percentile) will be eligible for overtime
***This would be a 110% increase from 23,660
===Effects & Consequences===
*Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the Economic Policy Institute, a research group partly funded by labor unions, has estimated that the higher salary threshold would expand overtime to as many as 15 million additional workers [http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-29/obama-said-set-to-expand-overtime-eligibility-for-millions (Bloomberg)]
*”NFIB estimates that about 40% of small businesses will have employees newly eligible for time-and-a-half overtime pay. If a business cannot afford to pay managers over $50,000 per year, the business will have to change these employees from salaried exempt to hourly nonexempt employees and prohibit overtime work.” [http://www.nfib.com/article/new-overtime-rule-add-costs-to-small-businesses-and-hurts-workers-70007/ (NFIB-OR)]
**Fewer salaried, managerial positions → little advancement opportunities
*The proposed rule received some 270,000 comments during the 60-day period after its publication in June 2015. By comparison, the agency received 75,280 comments in response to its last proposed rule update in 2004.
*Many employers—especially small and midsize businesses—wouldn’t be able to absorb the increased labor and litigation costs, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce [https://www.uschamber.com/above-the-fold/overtime-rule-would-hurt-more-help (COC)]
*Few workers would actually get bigger paychecks
**"A recent report released by the NRF said that employers were much more likely to cut wages and bonuses or reduce hours to avoid paying overtime. If employers made no changes to their pay and scheduling structure, an option the NRF acknowledged is highly unlikely, overtime costs would run businesses $9.5 billion under the proposed changes" [http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-obama-overtime-rules-explainer-20150630-htmlstory.html (LATimes)]
*"Employers can respond to these higher costs in several ways. First, they can cut the base or regular wage for workers who will likely receive these overtime payments. Second, they can cut existing workers’ hours and hire new workers who will also work fewer than 40 hours per week. Third, they can cut their hours or their jobs entirely and invest in a machine that can do the same job, perhaps more cheaply. Fourth, they can keep the workers but pass on the costs to consumers in the form of higher prices. Fifth, they can keep the workers, pay them the time and a half premium and bear the brunt of the higher costs." [http://bamsouth.com/new-overtime-pay-regulations-helpful-or-harmful-to-the-employees-supposedly-assisted/ (BAM)]
===Solutions===
*"Government wage mandates are no substitute for economic growth, and contrary to the administration’s assertions, they do little to lift the middle class. If our leaders want to see hiring accelerate and incomes climb, they should pursue pro-growth policies that enable employers to expand, invest, and create more high-paying opportunities for workers." [https://www.uschamber.com/above-the-fold/overtime-rule-would-hurt-more-help (COC)]
*"The U.S. Chamber continues to advocate for commonsense regulatory and legal reform, a simplified tax code that lowers rates for businesses and individuals, long-term investment in infrastructure, and policies that will allow the United States to capitalize on its vast energy resources."[https://www.uschamber.com/above-the-fold/overtime-rule-would-hurt-more-help (COC)]
