Peach State’s small retail businesses will be hit especially hard.
493,000 Georgia Jobs Affected by Federal Overtime Rule
When the Department of Labor recently handed
down a new mandate extending overtime pay to more than 4 million employees
nationwide, NFIB and other business groups across the country spoke out about
the devastating impact to both employers and workers. In Georgia, according to
the Economic Policy Institute, the effect could be especially wide-reaching:
493,000 Georgians are affected, which amounts to 28 percent of the state’s
salaried workers.
One industry hit particularly hard by the new
overtime rule is retail businesses. Georgia Retail Association President and
CEO Randy Miller issued a statement about the new rule: “Here’s another example
of the federal government attempting to help the lower and middle class by
extending the overtime rules, when in fact, it will do the exact opposite and
hurt those same people by reducing the number of hours they’re allowed to work,
thereby reducing their incomes. This rule will also cost Georgia retailers
millions of dollars in administrative costs, and thousands of employees would
be changed to hourly, thereby negatively impacting their pay, their benefits,
and their families.”
The rule nearly doubles the threshold at which
employees are exempt from earning overtime pay— from $23,660 to $47,476. Under
the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees are not eligible for overtime pay if
they are compensated at a minimum wage level (now $47,476), if they are paid on
a salaried basis, and if they perform duties considered professional,
administrative, or executive in nature. Now, under the new rule, any salaried
workers earning less than $47,476 must be paid for overtime. NFIB estimates the
new rule will impact 44 percent of small businesses.
The rule goes into effect on Dec. 1, 2016, so
businesses need to take action now to determine which employees will be
impacted and what measures they may need to take. For more information about
the rule, visit www.NFIB.com/Overtime.