Associated Builders and Contractors respond to Department of Labor’s overtime rule

The rule now states that employees who earn $47,476 per year are eligible as hourly employees rather than salary and will be paid overtime compensation for hours worked over the 40-hour limit. This new rule will also update the salary threshold every three years based on wage growth over time. It will become effective Dec. 1, 2016.
 

“DOL’s overtime rule will rob employers of needed flexibility and employees of career advancement avenues, and it will have a disruptive effect on the construction industry as a whole,” says ABC Vice President of Legislative and Political Affairs Kristen Swearingen. “The unprecedented increase in the salary threshold may force some contractors to consider switching certain employees from salaried positions to hourly. This change may deprive employees of autonomy in their work schedules and may be perceived as a demotion to employees.

 

“Additionally, the rule’s unprecedented increase in the salary threshold fails to account for disparate income levels in different regions of the country,” says Swearingen. “This will result in an unreasonable, one-size-fits-all mandate, which will have a vastly different impact on employers in regions with a lower cost-of-living.”

 

ABC has been a vocal opponent of the overtime rule and submitted comments along with more than 900 ABC members opposing the rule. ABC supported legislation that would prevent DOL from implementing the rule and submitted comments as a member of the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity as well.