The retail federation said “the rules will force employers to limit hours or cut base pay in order to make up for the added payroll costs of overtime expansion, leaving most workers with no increase in take-home pay despite added administrative costs”.
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Under the new law of the land, the annual salary threshold at which companies can deny overtime pay will be doubled, from $23,660 to almost $47,500. But it has gone too far in doubling the threshold so that any salaried employee earning less than $47,476 per year will be eligible for overtime. It means that millions of hardworking Americans like Elizabeth will either get paid for working more than 40 hours, or they’ll get more time with their families.
Any federal standard above the $35,100 overtime threshold in NY, which has a high cost of living, will inhibit economic growth in more rural states in the South and Midwest, Tammy McCutchen, a Washington D.C. lawyer who works with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said on Tuesday before the final rule was announced.
President Barack Obama, right, listens as Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, left, speaks the White House Summit on Worker Voice in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015. They can instruct affected employees not to work more than 40 hours a week and bring on part-time workers to pick up the slack.
Several groups, including the nation’s two largest human resources organizations, strongly opposed the new overtime rule even thought the threshold eligibility was reduced from the original plan’s $50,000.
CNN Money did an excellent job explaining how the new rule will affect your pocketbook.
Clark Partington attorney Richard Sherrill yesterday gave background on the rule on New Talk 1370 WCOA’s “Pensacola Speaks”.
The rule sets the standard salary level at the 40th percentile of earnings of full-time salaried workers in the lowest-wage Census Region, now the South tegion. It figures only 16.2 percent of the salaried workforce will see time and a half as a result of the change.
If I get paid a salary and make more than $47,476, am I out of luck? “These changes will impose more federal requirements on employers, especially for low-margin industries like restaurants and retail”. Doubling the threshold, the White House said in a statement, will provide workers with an additional $12 billion in wages over the next 10 years.
Critics are urging Congress to block the new rule, but any such push would face a certain veto by President Obama.
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She said the new rules will boost income for low- and middle-income households, and encourage more hiring, as workers spread work to more workers “instead of overworking a few”. But it should adjust the increase to a lower level before the December 1 implementation date, to ensure that a higher rate actually produces the desired result.
