Proposed overtime law revision would spread threshold increase over 3 years

Dive Brief:

A quartet of Democratic congressmen yesterday introduced legislation that would slow down the controversial new federal overtime rule for the nation's employers, according to Oregon Live.
Congressmen Kurt Schrader (Oregon-D), Jim Cooper (TN-D), Henry Cuellar (TX-D) and Collin Peterson (MN-D) hope to make the phase-in of the new federal overtime rule more gradual (the rule is set to go into effect on Dec. 1, 2016).
The rule raises the current "exempt" from overtime threshold from $23,660 to $47,476, but the the "Overtime Reform and Enhancement Act" would spread the new threshold increase out over three years, beginning with a 50% increase December 1 to $35,984, according to the report.

Dive Insight:

After the 50% increase, the congressmen propose an annual adjustment of $74 per week until December 1, 2019, when the Department of Labor's proposed $47,476 threshold is reached.

In a press release, Congressman Schrader said the bill will raise the much too low threshold do exactly that without disrupting the way "businesses operate and employees are paid," adding that his concern is employers haven't had time to plan for the sizable increase this December.

"Without sufficient time to plan for the increase, cuts and demotions will become inevitable, and workers will actually end up making less than they made before," Schrader said.

The National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) and the National Retail Federation (NRF) had positive things to say about the proposed law. Katie Vlietstra, Vice President for Government Relations and Public Affairs for NASE, said any new rule or regulation will impact a small business’ bottom-line, and they should be given fair and adequate time to make the necessary arrangements to comply.

Naturally, the DOL is not a fan of the idea. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez said in a statement: "Millions of workers have been waiting years for the overtime rules to catch up to reality ... This legislation would ask them to wait even longer."

Whether or not the bill actually ends up going anywhere is another story, though Oregon Live reports the congressmen will attempt to focus on the issue in September.