Vitter: DOL's Overtime Rule Leaves Small Businesses, Employees High and Dry
Press Release
U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-La.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, made the following statement on the Department of Labor's (DOL) final overtime rule, which would more than double the current salary threshold under the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime exemption for administrative, executive, and professional employees.
"The Obama Administration's overtime rule is going to do the very opposite of its intention and will cripple local economies, particularly in Louisiana. Not only did the Labor Department actively leave out small businesses during the rulemaking process, but this completely wrong-headed regulation will force small businesses to shift many of their employees to part-time positions who will lose the benefits that come with a salaried position," said Vitter. "As Chairman of the Small Business Committee, I'll keep fighting to protect small businesses and the workforce who may see depressed wages, hours and benefits from Obama's misguided rule."
Last week, Chairman Vitter held a Small Business Committee hearing examining the DOL overtime rule and the subsequent impact on small businesses. At the hearing, Vitter questioned Ms. Tammy McCutchen, former Administrator of the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division, on the impacts of DOL's broad rule on states whose percent of salaried full-time workers earning below $970/week was over 40%. Ms. McCutchen made clear that lower cost-of-living states, such as Louisiana, would disproportionately carry a higher economic burden than others from the Administration's one-size-fits-all approach.
In September 2015, Vitter sent a letter to DOL Secretary Tom Perez, urging Perez to extend the public comment period for the proposed rule. Vitter joined numerous stakeholders in voicing concerns that the rule will limit workplace opportunity and flexibility for overtime pay in a one-size-fits-all proposal that would more than double the threshold for overtime pay from $23,660 to $50,440.
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