New overtime rules go into effect today that will impact millions of workers across a broad range of job categories including assistant managers at retail stores, fast food restaurants, financial service industry workers, registered nurses and law enforcement personal.
The Bush Administration says as many as 107,000 could lose their overtime eligibility under the new rules, but about 1.3 million workers will gain the right to overtime.
“6.7 million workers will see their overtime protections strengthened under the new Overtime Security Rule,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “Under the new rules, workers will know their overtime rights, employers will know their responsibilities and the department can more vigorously enforce these protections,” added Chao.
But John Kerry’s campaign says that up to six million workers will lose their right to overtime pay under the new regulations. “By changing the technical language of a few, simple rules, the Bush administration could drastically cut the pay of millions of workers and make it even more difficult for families, already squeezed by the Bush economy, to get by,” the Kerry-Edwards campaign said in a statement.
Under the current Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations, most workers are guaranteed the right to overtime pay, commonly known as “time-and-a-half,” for every hour worked beyond the normal 40-hour workweek.
But the Economic Policy Institute says the changes will increase the number of exempt employees, making it likely that millions of workers will work longer hours at reduced pay.
The Institute believes millions of workers may potentially be classified by their employers as “professional,” “administrative,” or “executive.”
“The redefinition of ‘executive’ will allow employers to deny overtime pay to workers who do very little supervision and a great deal of manual or routine work, including employees in factories and industrial plants,” the Economic Policy Institute said. ” In all, 1.4 million low-level, salaried supervisors will lose their overtime rights, along with 548,000 hourly supervisors, who could be switched to being paid on a salary basis and thus denied overtime protection.”
Although the new overtime pay rules are effective today, they can be blocked or repealed by Congress, the AFL-CIO said in a statement.
“The U.S. Senate has voted three times to stop Bush’s overtime pay grab-but White House pressure and maneuvers by Republican congressional leaders derailed the drives to protect workers’ paychecks,” the AFL-CIO said.
(via Kerry Edwards 2004)
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