2016-10-04 | Bob Helland, GCSAA - October 2016

The U.S. House passed a bill (H.R. 6094) that would delay implementation of the Department of Labor’s overtime rule until the middle of next year. The bill passed on a 246-177 mostly party-line vote. The Senate adjourned after passing a stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown, meaning there will be no Senate vote on the overtime bill until after the November elections at the earliest.

The final overtime rule, announced by the Department of Labor in May, raises the threshold for employees who are exempt from overtime pay to $47,476 – more than double the current salary threshold of $23,660. This increase in the salary threshold will take effect on December 1, 2016.

GCSAA does not oppose an adjustment to the current overtime threshold, but is concerned that the new rule as written would adversely affect many golf facilities. The association would like to see a phased in approach to the salary threshold as well as a salary threshold that is regionally based.

Without congressional action, the overtime rule is set to take effect Dec. 1. With Congress adjourned until Nov. 14 so that lawmakers can continue to campaign for reelection, there will be little time for the Senate to pass corrective legislation before the rule becomes effective.

The White House was sufficiently concerned about the Walberg bill that it issued a veto threat last week.

While continuing to press for a legislative solution to the Administration’s pending overtime rule, the American Society of Association Executives has joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and numerous other organizations in a lawsuit to block the rule from taking effect on Dec. 1.

 

The lawsuit filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, argues that the Department of Labor exceeded its authority under the Fair Labor Standards Act by drastically altering the minimum salary requirements for exemption and by establishing an automatic salary threshold increase every three years, to take place without notice or public comment.