(ABC) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Associated Builders and Contractors issued the following statement opposing the U.S. Department of Labor‘s proposed rulemaking that would alter overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The proposal increases the minimum salary level threshold to $55,068 annually for a full-year worker and automatically updates the threshold every three years.
“ABC is disappointed that the DOL is moving forward with a proposed overtime rule since multiple industries, like construction, are still grappling with the lingering economic consequences of inflation, global supply chain disruptions, rising materials prices and workforce shortages, all of which push operational costs ever higher,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs.
“It is unfortunate that the DOL did not listen to our repeated requests to abandon or postpone issuance of the proposed overtime rule until the current economic situation stabilizes or improves, allowing employees and employers to fully navigate the paradigm shift of work in America without new unnecessary and costly red tape,” said Brubeck.
Background:
On May 25, 2023, ABC, as a steering committee member of the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity, as well as 103 other organizations, sent a letter to Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su, urging her to abandon or at least postpone issuing the DOL’s proposed rulemaking that would alter the overtime regulations under the FLSA. Further, the letter stated that the DOL’s last update to the overtime regulations went into effect in 2020—just three years ago, which strongly suggests there is no need for urgency in issuing more changes.
In Spring 2022, ABC and the employer community participated in DOL listening sessions warning that any rule change is ill-advised.
In 2016, the Obama administration issued a final overtime rule that would have doubled the minimum salary level for exemption from $23,660 to $47,476 per year. ABC, along with several other business groups, sued the DOL in federal court and succeeded in blocking the rule from taking effect.
In 2019, the Trump administration issued a new overtime rule, which formally rescinded the 2016 rule and readjusted the minimum salary level for exemption to $35,568 per year. The final rule went into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
(NAM) WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s issuance of a proposed rule altering the exemptions for overtime eligibility under the Fair Labor Standards Act, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) Managing Vice President of Policy Chris Netram issued the following statement:
“Manufacturers have spent the past several years adapting operations and personnel management resources to meet the evolving needs of their workforce in a post-pandemic environment, including through improved wages and benefits and productive workplace accommodations. The DOL’s proposed rule would inject new regulatory burdens and compliance costs to an industry already reeling from workforce shortages and an onslaught of other unbalanced regulations.
“Creating new regulatory processes and imposing additional mandatory costs will act as a drag on the sector and upend productive employer–employee relations. We look forward to expressing our concerns with this proposal directly to the DOL and administration leaders as the process moves forward.”
(NAW) — WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW), the voice of the $8.2 trillion wholesale distribution industry, that employs over 6 million U.S. workers, and is essential to our nation’s economic health and the flow of goods and services, released the following statement:
“The Department of Labor’s proposed one-size-fits-all wage rule ignores marketplace discrepancies, and only further destabilizes an already strained marketplace for workers,” said NAW CEO Eric Hoplin. “Compensation models have adapted over the years with factors like commissions, bonuses, out of office flexibility, and increased employer training, factoring into compensation decisions, all to the benefit of the employee, this rule ignores those advances and treats all workers the same. A new nationalized overtime rule would cause marketplace inefficiencies that would ultimately disadvantage those it means to help while driving up prices on consumers. NAW will be closely reviewing the rule and we expect to file comment once it is published in the Federal Register,” concluded Hoplin.
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