Dive Brief:
- Congress is doing its best to scuttle the federal government's controversial final overtime rule, introducing several proposed pieces of legislation designed to either delay or eliminate it, but according to SHRM, the chance those bills can have any impact on the Dec. 1 deadline seems highly unlikely.
- Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), for example, sponsored H.R. 6094, which proposed delaying the effective date of the overtime rule by six months and which passed the House of Representatives on Sept. 28. Even if the bill should get enough votes, President Obama will veto it.
- Also on Sept. 28, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) introduced S. 3462 in the Senate to delay the overtime rule by six months. The bill is companion House legislation (H.R. 6094). Another proposed bill from the Democratic side of the aisle would phase in the threshold using a staggered 3-year implementation.
Dive Insight:
Should Donald Trump prevail in the Nov. 8 election, there could be relief for those who want the rule amended or eliminated. With less than a month to election day, however, most recent polls suggest that's not looking like a realistic path for those who oppose the Dec. 1 implementation.
There's also the option of litigation: If the rule is blocked by the pair of recent lawsuits from 21 states and 50 businesses respectively, the Labor Dept. might compromise on extending the deadline and/or allowing incremental exempt threshold boosts.
The whole situation is a headache for HR leaders, especially considering that research shows 36% of employees aren't logging their hours in the first place. Even so, Dec. 1 is right around the corner, so it would not be prudent to depend on Congress or the courts to exact any delays or changes. It's critical that employers begin accurately tracking the hours of salaried employees below the proposed threshold of $47,476. And while the majority of employers, especially the large ones, have been preparing for the new rule, one survey shows that many smaller employers lag in their planning.
