Legislation provides a thoughtful, measured approach to the Department of Labor’s drastic overtime proposal
Washington, D.C. – July 15, 2016 – The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA) and the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association (ORLA) issued the following statements on the introduction of Rep. Kurt Schrader’s (OR-5) legislation H.R. 5813, the Overtime Reform and Enhancement Act. The legislation would phase-in over three years the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule, which currently would raise the overtime threshold for eligible employees by December 1, 2016 from $23,660 to $47,476. This legislation would raise the overtime threshold by 50 percent to $35,984 by the initial compliance deadline. After that, the threshold would rise by $74 per week until December, 2019, when it will reach $47,476.
“Our industry is ripe with opportunity and has a tremendous track record of providing the training and resources our employees need to move up through the ranks to more senior positions,” said Brian Crawford, AH&LA’s Vice President of Government Affairs. “However, we are concerned that the significant increase in the salary threshold will have a profound negative impact on small and independent business owners who will face real challenges trying to implement this rule. The hotel industry applauds Representative Schrader for his leadership on this critical issue. This commonsense legislation provides employers with much-needed time to comply with the new regulation while also ensuring that our workers have up-to-date overtime rules.”
"Representative Schrader continues to exemplify leadership qualities we need in our elected leaders," said Jason Brandt, President & CEO of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association. “His new overtime proposal represents a common sense compromise that helps protect workers and small business owners as they adjust to new marketplace realities. We hope that Congressman Schrader’s legislation can jumpstart Congressional action to lessen the blunt impact these new regulations will have on not only small businesses, but also the higher education community and employers in the non-profit sector.”
Congressman Schrader’s legislation, the Overtime Reform and Enhancement Act, follows on the heels of other legislative efforts to lessen the impact of DOL’s Overtime Regulation. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) and Rep. Tim Walberg (MI-7) introduced the Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity Act (S. 2707 and H.R. 4773), legislation that would delay implementation of the DOL’s overtime regulation until a full economic impact analysis and study could be completed.
