Small businesses say expanding overtime eligibility is a big step backwards.
NFIB, the state’s leading small business organization, is disappointed in Governor Whitmer’s proposal to raise the wage limit for overtime pay beyond the federal limit.
“We are disappointed that the governor has chosen to go around the Michigan legislature to try to impose a new wage mandate on small and family owned businesses through the rules process,” said NFIB State Director in Michigan, Charlie Owens. “If her efforts are successful, Michigan will be an outlier among other states because we will have an overtime rule that is more excessive than what the federal government has established. Her proposal would force thousands of small businesses to increase their costs and ultimately force small business owners to lay off employees.”
Under current federal law, salaried employees who make less than $23,660 a year, or $455 per week, are exempt from the requirement to pay overtime if they work more than 40 hours a week. On January 1st, a new federal rule kicks in, increasing that salary from $23,660 to $35,568 a year, or $684 a week. In 2016, the Obama administration tried to increase the threshold to $47,476, however, was ultimately unsuccessful after NFIB stepped in with a lawsuit.
While the Whitmer administration didn’t reveal how much the increase could be here in Michigan, the governor hinted that the number would start at $51,000 and could even go higher.
Owens wasn’t surprised at that number since it’s about the same as what Senate Democrats proposed in recent legislation that would allow Michiganders who make less than $50,000 to qualify for overtime by 2024.
“Unfortunately, the governor and her Democrat allies in the legislature seem intent on pursuing the same policies that were responsible for Michigan’s lost decade of economic malaise during the Granholm years,” said Owens. “This will undo the hard work of the last eight years to pull Michigan out of the ditch and create a state with a small business friendly labor climate that is responsible for record employment and rising personal incomes.”
