(The AFL-CIO issued the following on April 28.)
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao missed an opportunity today to guarantee American workers that not a single one of them would lose overtime pay rights under the new Bush Administration’s overtime regulations. Instead, during her testimony before the House Education and Workforce Committee, she continued to tell half-truths about whether workers are at risk of losing overtime pay, and reiterated the Bush Administration’s opposition to the Harkin amendment that would allow updates to the rules but ensures that no worker loses overtime pay.
The regulation will make it easier for corporations to slash overtime pay for millions of workers and the final regulation will likely create more, not fewer, lawsuits as employers try to reclassify workers based on ambiguous language in the rule. Employers now have leeway to take away overtime pay from many registered nurses, nursery teachers, administrative workers, journalists and other workers despite claims from the Department of Labor that “few, if any” middle-income workers will lose protection. Furthermore, workers with double duties, such as an assistant manager at a fast-food or retail establishment who flips burgers or rings up customers while overseeing staff, could lose hard-earned overtime pay.
If the Administration wants to emphatically demonstrate its commitment to help working families, it should support the Harkin amendment and provide accurate information about the final regulation’s negative impact on the nation’s middle class workers.