Plan Expands Eligibility for OT Pay.
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| Tue, 04-20-2004 - 9:16am |
Plan Expands Eligibility for Overtime Pay.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25433-2004Apr19.html
The Labor Department will allow workers who earn up to $100,000 a year to be eligible for overtime pay, a substantial shift upward from an earlier proposal that Democrats had promised to make an issue in the presidential campaign.
More low-wage workers would become automatically eligible for overtime under the final rules, due to be released today, according to Labor Department documents describing the regulation. Police, firefighters, paramedics, emergency medical technicians and licensed practical nurses will also be assured of eligibility for overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours a week.
The overtime rules, which haven't been revised in 50 years, have become a major subject of political dispute. The changes have been avidly sought by a wide coalition of business groups. But both houses of Congress voted last year to block the Bush administration's attempt to issue the rule because of controversy over the number of workers who might be adversely affected.
A research organization that focuses on labor issues estimated that the proposed changes would cost up to 8 million workers their chance to earn overtime. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao has countered that the original rules would cost fewer than 1 million more highly paid workers their overtime checks, while expanding overtime eligibility to millions of lower-wage workers.
The changes to be announced today amount to a more generous proposal for workers on both ends of the pay scale.
"The final rule accomplishes exactly what we intended from the start, which is to preserve and protect overtime rights for white-collar workers," Chao said in a statement last night. "We are pleased to see people recognize the significant gains to workers under our final rule. Now there can be no doubt that workers win.''
Some business lobbyists said they had heard that substantial changes were being made in the rules, although they didn't know exactly what to expect. Michael Eastman, director of labor policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said he was disappointed that the Labor Department had increased overtime eligibility for "highly compensated" workers making $65,000 to $100,000 a year.
"But we're hopeful there are other improvements in the regulations that will help us in other ways," Eastman said. "Politics is a process of compromise, and any changes over the current law are better than nothing."
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), a critic of the proposed rules, said in a statement last night: "The Bush Administration simply is not trustworthy on this issue, and I am beyond skeptical about these so-called revisions. This President has gone out of his way time and again to undercut working families' right to overtime pay for overtime work. . . . The Senate will soon have the opportunity to stand up and be counted on this issue, and I look forward to the debate."
The Labor Department received more than 75,000 letters during the public-comment phase of the process, and thousands more since, with many writers critical of the Bush administration for making changes workers feared would cost them money or force them to work longer hours. Employer groups and the administration had argued the rules were a much-needed update of regulations issued in 1938, when the U.S. economy was much different.
The department's summary of the final rule said the changes could give up to 1.3 million low-wage "white collar" workers an additional $375 million in compensation each year. Under the current rules, workers who earn less than $8,060 are automatically eligible for overtime -- a level set in the 1970s. The proposed rule had called for raising the cap to $22,100. Under the final rule, however, workers who earn up to $23,660, or about $455 a week, will be automatically eligible for overtime.
Some 5.4 million salaried workers who are unsure of their eligibility will be guaranteed overtime rights under the final rule "regardless of their job duties," one Labor document said.
The new regulations will also make no changes to educational requirements or specialized training received in the military.
Some employers, veterans and many labor-activist critics had viewed the proposed regulations as permitting employers to view workers who had attended college or had received specialized military training as potentially exempt from overtime pay under an expanded professional exemption. The Labor Department had said that interpretation was erroneous, but the new language is expected to clarify the question and ensure that veterans, in particular, do not lose overtime pay.
Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the Economic Policy Institute, the labor-backed research organization that has analyzed and criticized the Labor Department's proposal, said it sounded as though the department "had made some positive changes." But he said he would reserve judgment until he could review the actual regulations.


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If the job is listed and the normal hours for the job are after 7 pm, and before 6 am, and people still want to work those hours, then why shouldnt they be considered normal hours?
This has always puzzled me. I understand your point, but it seems to be a loophole.
I kind of wonder if it's not who one is working for.
Well, what happens then when you cut the pay rate and suddenly you don't have the workers to do what YOU want to do WHEN you want to do it?
You are neglecting WHY people want to work those hours, if you didn't have the increased pay, 80% of the people working those hours woudn't "want" to work those hours any more.
James
janderson_ny@yahoo.com
CL Ask A Guy
I am a hard facts kind of guy with things of this nature.
I know that in NY, there is a specific budget set aside each year for projects on the roads and highways. If that money is not used in total, then the budget would be reduced the following year, so this could be one reason behind it.
Pretty sad reasoning on budgetary issues if you ask me.
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