The American Bankers Association recently joined 101 national, state and local industry trade associations—under the banner of the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity—to express support for H.R. 7367, the Overtime Pay Flexibility Act. The legislation, introduced by Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), would prohibit the Department of Labor from finalizing its proposed rule to significantly increase the number of employees who are subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and minimum wage requirements.
Under DOL proposal, employees who earn up to $60,209 would be subject to federal overtime and minimum wage requirements. Current regulations set the salary level at $35,568 annually. Above that level, an employee may be exempted from federal overtime and minimum wage requirements if the employee performs certain duties.
The proposal also would require DOL to automatically update the salary level every three years. In addition, it would increase, to $143,988, the amount of income an employee must receive to be classified as a “highly compensated employee,” or HCE. In the letter, the associations said that the proposal, if finalized, would lead to the reclassification of millions of employees from salaried to hourly, resulting in the loss of flexible work arrangements and other benefits currently available to salaried employees.
Earlier this month, the DOL sent the overtime final rule to the Office of Management and Budget for final review on March 1. It remains unclear whether the DOL made changes to the rule since the proposal was issued. Upon completion of the OMB review, the DOL is expected to formally issue the final rule.
