Dive Brief:
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In the wake of two lawsuits aimed at blocking the Labor Department’s new overtime rule, House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections Chair Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) last week introduced legislation that would stall the rule’s effective date by six months, from December 1, 2016, to June 1, 2017, according to the National Law Review.
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The new Regulatory Relief for Small Businesses, Schools, and Nonprofits Act (H.R. 6094) does not ask for any specific changes to the final rule; it only wants that six-month delay. The National Law Review reports that the thinking is a new Congress might permanently block the rule by law, though a veto by President Obama would be sure to follow.
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Much as is the case with the pending lawsuits, the bill’s sponsors say they acted because “drastic changes to federal overtime policies will take effect, resulting in harmful consequences for workers, small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and colleges and universities,” the National Law Review reports.
Dive Insight:
This latest legislative attempt to affect the overtime rule is not the first. In July, four Democratic congressmen introduced legislation that would slow down the overtime rule by using a phased-in approach. That effort would spread the new threshold increase out over three years, beginning with a 50% increase December 1 to $35,984.
Despite these efforts to derail the overtime rule, experts advise HR leaders and employers to continue to do whatever is necessary to comply with the new rule, because if they don't, there will be workplace compensation confusion and compliance issues as well.