IFPTE e-Activist News Center

Continue the Fight for Overtime Pay We must continue our effects to stop the Bush Administration from enacting new overtime pay regulations that will eliminate overtime pay for AT LEAST 8 million workers! The Bush Administration is pushing forward with enactment of the destructive regulations even through both Houses of Congress have voted IN FAVOR of passage of the Harkin Amendment. Over the last several weeks, Senate Republicans have continued to use procedural manuevers to keep the Harkin Amendment from being considered for a vote. Now it looks as though the Senate will recess once again without voting on the crucial amendment. Both good and bad possibilities exist: Senate Republicans and Democrats may come to an agreement allowing a vote on the amendment upon the Senate's return; or President Bush may enact the regulations, currently at the Office of Budget and Management (OMB), during the Senate recess (4/12-16/04). Once again, we must redouble our efforts and spread the word to family and friends. Then, contact your Senators NOW and tell them to SAVE OVERTIME PAY!!! You can also visit our FLSA page at www.ifpte.org for new information on this issue. Sample Letter for Campaign Subject: Save My Overtime Pay! Dear [ Decision Maker ] , As my duly elected senator, I urge you to protect overtime pay and allow a vote on the Harkin Amendment. Support the will of your constituents and the millions of American citizens all across this country whose right to receive overtime pay must be preserved. Passage of the Harkin Amendment will protect my right to receive overtime pay. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to pay overtime to employees who work over 40 hours per week. But if the Bush Administration's new regulations are enacted, it would make it much easier for employers to deny overtime to millions of workers. The Bush Administration's proposal amounts to a PAY CUT, plain and simple. Don't undermine your constituents or the 40-hour workweek. Protect overtime pay--pass the Harkin Amendment. Sincerely,

Campaign Launched: November 07, 2003

Background Information

A year ago, the Bush Administration issued a proposal to change the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) regulations governing overtime provisions, the foundational labor law enacted in 1938 to protect the rights of workers. The Bush changes would make it much easier for employers to reclassify workers from 'non-exempt' to 'exempt', making them ineligible for overtime. The Bush proposal would also create a new exception for "highly compensated employees", effectively denying overtime protection to workers earning more than $65,000 (not indexed to inflation).

The Bush proposal would undermine the 40-hour workweek, and amount to a pay cut. Outside analysts estimate that the Bush proposal would strip overtime rights from at least 8 million workers in many industries (including but not limited to): aerospace, defense, health care, and high tech industries. Workers likely to lose their eligibility for overtime pay include mid-level office workers, lower-level supervisors, licensed practical nurses, newspaper reporters, policemen, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, cooks, secretaries, dental hygienists, air traffic controllers, social workers, occupational therapists, dieticians, physical therapists, administrative support, computer support, drafters, designers, graphic artists, engineering technicians, planners, assistant and associate architects, health technicians, and paralegals.

The Bush proposal would fail to guarantee overtime eligibility for low-income workers. Under current law, workers are automatically eligible for overtime pay if their income is lower than a minimum salary threshold. This threshold, last adjusted in 1975, would be $26,520 today if adjusted for inflation. The Bush proposal would raise the minimum threshold to only $22,100, leaving workers worse off than they were in 1975. The Administration claims that raising the salary threshold to $22,100 would make 1.3 million more lower-income workers automatically eligible for overtime pay, but the Bush proposal itself coaches employers how to avoid any pay increase for these workers.

The Harkin Amendment was introduced to stop the Bush proposal. The legislation would not stop the Bush Administration from raising the minimum salary threshold or from clarifying the criteria for the white collar exceptions in ways that do not take away workers' overtime rights.

FLSA History and Rights
The FLSA is a civil rights statute created by Congress in 1938 to improve working conditions and eliminate oppressive and detrimental labor conditions and establish minimum work standards. Many employees were being forced to work long hours (60-70 hours per week) at low pay. The Act's overtime provisions limit the number of hours a person can work for two reasons: 1) to spread employment among more people and 2) to create and maintain a 40-hour workweek. The FLSA achieved these aims through a single mandatory device: forced overtime pay. It penalizes employers when employees work longer than 40 hours, and it provides bonus compensation to all employees for longer work hours.

Congress explicitly wanted to create a financial burden on employers. Thus, restrictions on business practices (through higher labor costs) are the exclusive method for achieving fair working conditions. Rather than balancing the interests of employers and employees, the obligations and burdens imposed by the Act are completely one-sided. They favor employees alone.

Given the Act's mandate, to force employers to pay more for overtime hours, any exceptions had to be as narrow as possible to achieve the law's main goals. Since exclusions from overtime defeat the purposes of the Act, they must be drawn narrowly.

Congress stated that top managers of a business could be excluded from overtime pay. This included the administrator of the business as well as executives. An administrator was defined as a principal manager who doesn't necessarily supervise other workers, and an executive is a principal manager who does supervise workers. Low-level supervisors and others who perform paperwork or other office work functions were never considered for exemption. The regulations were written so that the vast majority of workers would have overtime pay rights. The FLSA also allowed professionals to be excluded from overtime pay. The professions included only doctors, lawyers, and ministers.

The dividing line between exempt managers/professionals and non-exempt regular workers was intended to be quite clear. The general presumption is that all workers should get overtime pay and have their 40-hour week protected. The salary test for exemption was supposed to ensure that only the most highly paid executives would be denied overtime protections. In 1940, 1949, and 1958, the salary tests were set so high that only the top 10 percent of salaried employees would meet the test. The lower 90 percent of workers would be guaranteed to receive overtime pay. Now, the DOL claims only the lowest 10 percent of workers should be protected.