NLBMDA isn't giving up on overtime fight

The final version of the federal overtime rule has been announced by the Department of Labor, but the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) is not exactly thrilled with it.

The organization met with the White House's Office of Management Budget (OMB) Office of Information of Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on April 4 to oppose the rule and make the case for taking regional differences into account.

This was after legislation was introduced in March to delay the rule in order to give the DOL more time to conduct an analysis.

The new overtime rule, which goes into effect Dec. 1, 2016, increases the threshold for eligibility, with the qualifying salary level jumping from $455 per week ($23,360 annually) to $913 per week ($47,476 annually).

Under the new legislation, the salary threshold will also update automatically every three years.

The NLBMDA is objecting to the "one-size-fits-all approach" that doesn't make any changes to the duties test for executive, administrative and professional employees.

"DOL's final overtime rule may actually hurt the people it is designed to help," said NLBMDA chairman Scott Yates, who serves as president and general manager of Denver Lumber Company in Denver, Colorado. "Lumber dealers fairly compensate their employees but the new rule could have unintended consequences causing a reduction in flexibility and advancement opportunities for employees."

"We are hopeful congressional action can help bring a rational approach to addressing minimum salary thresholds for overtime pay," said Jonathan Paine, NLBMDA president and CEO. "Unfortunately, the DOL's simplistic approach of imposing such a large increase for determining overtime pay eligibility disrupts a bright-line test that employers have long-used to fairly compensate hourly workers and at the same time provide opportunities for worker initiative and responsibilities at the managerial levels."