As early as March 2004, President George W. Bush could take away working people's hard-fought 40-hour workweek and overtime pay—with no meaningful increased flexibility to help workers balance demands of jobs and family.
Under the Bush proposal to change the Fair Labor Standards Act, some 8 million workers, including police officers, nurses, store supervisors and many other workers, would face unpredictable work schedules and reduced pay because of an increased demand for extra hours for which employers would not have to compensate workers, according to an Economic Policy Institute report.
The Bush proposal also could take away overtime pay protections for America's military veterans.
Since the U.S. Department of Labor announced the proposed rule changes in March 2003, the Labor Department already has been advising employers how to avoid paying overtime to low-income workers who may gain eligibility under the rule, according to an Associated Press report.
In January 2004, Bush and Senate Republican leaders killed a filibuster against a massive spending bill that included an amendment to block the overtime pay protection attack. The amendment protecting workers’ overtime previously had been approved by the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.
Tell Bush that working families count on overtime pay and oppose changes to overtime that would mean more work and less pay for working families.
Bush's Proposal Could End Overtime Pay for Millions of Workers Some of the most important employment protections for working families today are part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which sets minimum standards for wages and overtime. Under the FLSA’s overtime rules, some 80 million workers must now be paid time-and-a-half in cash when they work for more than 40 hours a week. Millions of these workers depend on cash overtime pay to make ends meet.
In fact, under the Bush proposal, a worker eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) could be ineligible to receive overtime pay. (A single worker making less than $33,178 and caring for two or more children could be eligible for the EITC, a federal income tax credit for low-income workers.)
The Bush overtime proposal to change overtime regulations would deny overtime pay and the protections of the 40-hour workweek to millions of workers. It would affect a wide range of the approximately 80 million workers currently protected by making it much easier for employers to claim that these employees are exempt from overtime pay.
Under the Bush overtime scheme:
- Millions of salaried workers making between $22,101 and $65,000 who now are eligible to receive overtime pay could be reclassified as executives or administrative or professional employees—and would no longer qualify for overtime pay.
- Relatively low-salary earners who have supervisory responsibilities or management-related responsibilities would be penalized, as would workers with advanced education or specialized training. Some of the jobs affected are police, firefighters, nurses, retail managers, insurance claims adjusters and medical therapists.
- Employees not covered by the new rules also could be hurt: By reclassifying many of their workers as exempt from overtime pay, employers most likely would assign overtime only to them and eliminate overtime for other workers. Police and firefighters are among those potentially affected.
- Anyone making $65,000 or more a year likely would lose overtime pay, effectively eliminating many middle-income wage earners’ much-needed extra pay.
Many working families depend on overtime to pay bills—especially asthe current economic recession that has resulted in stagnant and declining wages, increasing costs of health care, prescription drugs, child care and other essential expenses. The Bush proposal would cut into many of those families’ paychecks.
What Workers Are Saying
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| View the TV ad featuring aerospace worker Alan Rice talking about the importance of overtime pay. | |
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