Press Releases

Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, today introduced the Regulatory Relief for Small Businesses, Schools, and Nonprofits Act (H.R. 6094), legislation to require a six-month delay in the effective date of the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule. Without congressional action, on December 1, 2016, drastic changes to federal overtime policies will take effect, resulting in harmful consequences for workers, small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and colleges and universities.

Rep. Walberg and Rep. John Kline (R-MN), chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, released the following statements upon introduction:

“Small businesses, nonprofits, and colleges and universities nationwide have urged the administration to take a more responsible approach to updating our nation’s overtime rules,” Rep. Walberg said. “There is agreement that federal overtime rules need to be updated, and we’ve been working in a bipartisan fashion to find a reasonable consensus to modernize these rules. Unfortunately, the administration has refused to listen and too many hardworking people impacted by the rule are now struggling to prepare for drastic changes in just a few short months. The administration should go back to the drawing board altogether, but at the very least, it should work with us to delay the rule and provide much-needed relief.”

“This fundamentally flawed rule threatens to disrupt the lives of countless individuals,” Chairman Kline said. “Those who can least afford it will be hurt the most—students, small business owners, and workers trying to move up the ladder of opportunity. The administration ignored the concerns of those who will pay the price for this partisan rule, and we will do whatever it takes to provide a better way. I want to thank Representative Walberg for his continued leadership in demanding a responsible update to federal overtime policies.”

BACKGROUND: Earlier this year, Rep. Walberg introduced legislation to ensure the administration pursued a more balanced and responsible approach to updating federal overtime rules. The legislation required the department to fully and accurately consider the economic impact of the rule on small businesses, nonprofits, and colleges and universities. However, the administration issued an extreme rule that more than doubles the salary threshold under which employees qualify for overtime pay. Concerns have been raised that the rule will stifle workplace flexibility and opportunity, impose significant burdens on small businesses, jeopardize crucial nonprofit services, and increase the cost of higher education.

To prevent these harmful consequences, the administration should withdraw the rule and work to modernize our nation’s overtime rules without limiting upward mobility and creating new obstacles for job creators. However, the department has refused to heed these concerns and plans to implement the rule on December 1, 2016. The Regulatory Relief for Small Businesses, Schools, and Nonprofits Act would delay implementation of the rule by six months, providing workers, small businesses, nonprofits, and colleges and universities more time to prepare for dramatic changes resulting from the department’s final rule.

To read the bill, click here.

 

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