NGFA urges DOL to withdraw proposed overtime rule

NGFA joined 86 other organizations representing private, public, nonprofit, and educational entities in a letter to House and Senate lawmakers requesting that they urge the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division to withdraw its proposed overtime pay regulations. 

DOL has proposed to increase the minimum salary level that an employee must receive to be exempt from federal overtime pay by 70 percent and has additionally proposed to automatically increase the salary level every three years. 

“The costs and organizational changes required to comply with the proposal could immediately destabilize an economy that is already facing the dual threats of inflation and recession,” the groups said, noting that despite concerns from stakeholders, the changes could be effective as early as May 1, 2024. 

Overtime pay regulations were last updated in 2019. DOL has not provided any evidence that the current rules are failing to protect employees, the groups said in the letter. 

“DOL’s proposed increase is simply too much for employers to absorb and will result in large numbers of employees being reclassified from exempt to hourly,” the letter states. “As a result of these tremendous costs and burdens, private employers may be forced to reduce staff and offerings and find themselves less competitive globally.”