The National Retail Federation expressed its extreme disappointment at the Senate's vote to block a badly needed Department of Labor update of the nation's overtime laws. NRF will continue to seek implementation of the update.
“Today's vote was a slap in the face for the 1.3 million low-income, hard- working Americans who would have gained overtime pay under the Department of Labor update,” NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin said. “Supporters of the Harkin amendment showed that they were more interested in supporting labor unions than in supporting workers.”
Mullin noted that a number of Senators could have been misled by the Economic Policy Institute's false claim that 8 million workers could lose overtime under the DOL proposal. The union-financed EPI number included union workers whose overtime is determined by contract, part-time workers who by definition do not work overtime, full-time workers who might be eligible for overtime but don't actually work it, and all workers in job categories where just a few might lose overtime. The official DOL estimate is that 1.3 million workers would gain overtime under the update.
The Senate voted 54-45 to approve an amendment offered by Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, that bars DOL from implementing the update of Fair Labor Standards Act “white collar” rules. The amendment became part of the DOL funding bill.
“This vote will leave employers trying to shoehorn 21st century jobs like computer programmer into Cold War job titles like keypunch operator,” Mullin said. “The 50-year-old overtime regulations that are currently on the books are vague, confusing and totally outdated. It is extremely difficult for an employer to determine whether a worker should receive overtime, and the result has been an explosion of litigation from disputed decisions. We had a chance today to update the system for the benefit of both employers and employees, but the Senate has squandered that chance.”
“It is particularly troublesome that the Senate has taken this action before DOL has even had a chance to review comments on the proposal and implement a final version of the regulations,” Mullin said. “The Senate should have allowed the process to be completed and then judged the proposal on the final rule, not the proposal.”
“NRF will remain vigilant in its fight to support the overtime update and seek to have the Harkin amendment removed in conference,” Mullin said. “We will ensure that lawmakers have factual, objective information before them on the impact of the update and are not misled by union propaganda.”
