Final comments have been submitted regarding a proposed Department of Labor rule designed to extend overtime protection to around 3.6 million workers.
The proposal, announced last summer, would guarantee overtime pay for salaried workers making less than $1,059 a week, or roughly $55,000 annually.
In airing the proposal, Jessica Looman, Labor Department wage and hour division administrator, remarked: “For too long, many low-paid salaried workers have been denied overtime pay, even though they often work long hours and perform much the same work as their hourly counterparts.”
Continued Looman: “This proposed rule would ensure that more workers receive extra pay when they work long hours.”
The proposed rule, officially called Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees, would mandate that low-paid salaried workers receive protections traditionally provided by the Labor Department.
In the process, the rule would automatically update the salary threshold for such workers every three years in order to reflect current earnings data.
The proposal has generated much industry comment and heat. In filing a response, the American Builders and Contractors called the proposal unlawful and one that will ultimately hurt small businesses.
“There is no compelling reason for an adjustment to the minimum salary threshold for exemption since it was increased roughly four years ago,” said Ben Brubeck, the vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs with ABC.
Brubeck additionally noted that the nation’s construction industry is currently challenged by “high materials prices, inflationary pressures and workforce shortages.” The new proposed Labor Department, said Brubeck, “will further complicate the current economic outlook.”
The proposal has also sparked the opposition of such groups as the Associated General Contractors of America, the American Bankers Association, and the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.
At the same time, a group called the National Employment Law Project has pointed to a study suggesting that employers have used false managerial titles as a means to “misclassify millions of workers as overtime exempt who should be receiving overtime.”
According to sources, the Labor Department has received in excess of 26,000 comments both for and against the overtime proposal. The agency is now in the process of reviewing those comments before it issues a final determination.
By Garry Boulard
