NFIB PA responds: Workers will be demoted, hours curtailed, and jobs lost
This is a news release from NFIB Pennsylvania reacting to Governor Wolf’s announcement that he will raise the salary floor for overtime eligibility in Pennsylvania to almost $48,000 through a regulation:
Gov. Wolf Election-Year Overtime Stunt to Hurt Workers and Small Business
NFIB won legal challenge contesting similar move by President Obama
HARRISBURG (Jan. 17, 2018) – Pennsylvania’s leading small-business group said Gov. Tom Wolf’s announcement today to more than double the overtime pay threshold will raise labor costs, result in demotions for workers, and hurt small business growth in the state.
“It’s no surprise that Gov. Wolf has come up with an election-year stunt that will force young managers to return to punching time cards, limiting their job responsibility and flexibility, and hampering their chances of career growth,” said Kevin Shivers, executive state director of NFIB PA.
“Small businesses will also suffer. Many of those companies simply cannot afford the labor costs associated with this extreme regulation. Business owners will be forced to demote workers to hourly employees or possibly eliminate jobs,” added Shivers. “It’s a page right out of President Obama’s failed economic playbook.”
NFIB’s Legal Center filed suit over President Obama’s regulatory action on raising the federal overtime salary threshold and prevailed in the Texas Federal District Court. An appeal by the U.S. Department of Labor was not heard, and President Trump has asked that agency to reconsider the appeal.
“There are serious legal questions about whether or not the Wolf Administration can do this through a regulatory change and our legal team is researching that,” said Shivers.
“Gov. Wolf’s announcement today reveals a pattern of policies harmful to Pennsylvania workers, small businesses, and the state economy. In just three years, Gov. Wolf sought to raise worker’s income taxes, expand sales taxes on necessary goods like child care and diapers, impose new taxes on home heating and health insurance premiums. Now Gov. Wolf is endangering worker’s jobs.”
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