GCCA Signs Industry Letter Against DOL’s Anticipated Rule Change in Overtime Regulations

On May 25^th, GCCA along with 104 organizations sent a letter to the Department of Labor (DOL), calling for the agency to abandon or delay the rulemaking to change overtime regulations in the Fair Labor Standards Act.  The letter was organized by the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity. The DOL is proposing to change white-collar exemptions and make them more restrictive for employers. The Department’s Fall 2022 Regulatory Agenda targeted this May for release of a proposed rule. In 2021, the DOL proposed a similar rulemaking but reversed course after holding meetings and hearing feedback from the regulated community.  The multi-industry letter asserts that the rulemaking would have the same negative effects as what was proposed in 2021.  Many businesses are not well-positioned to absorb new labor costs associated with changes to the overtime pay regulations, and such changes would only exacerbate the difficulties businesses are currently facing. Even though the COVID-19 public health emergency has been lifted, concerns with supply chain disruptions, workforce shortages, inflationary pressures, and the shifting dynamics of the American workforce persist, and any rule change now would threaten a particularly vulnerable and recovering economy.