IRRC Releases Comments in Response to Proposed Overtime Rule Changes

From PA Chamber of Business & Industry

The Independent Regulatory Review Commission last Friday issued their comments in response to the state Department of Labor and Industry’s proposal to dramatically expand overtime eligibility in Pennsylvania.

Many of IRRC’s directives and questions are similar to those posited by hundreds of employers and other stakeholders who submitted comments in response to the proposal and outlined multiple reasons the proposal should be rejected.

The Department’s proposal, released in June 2018, included a 100 percent increase in the minimum salary threshold to qualify for “overtime exempt” status and also required regular increases to the threshold. Additionally, while the proposal indicated a desire to align federal and state overtime guidelines – which the PA Chamber strongly supports – the actual regulatory language unfortunately fell far short of this goal.  The PA Chamber submitted comments in response to this proposal outlining numerous concerns including the cost on businesses and the nonprofit community and the negative impact on employees who will be forced to transition from earing a salary to less flexible hourly positions. Many of these concerns were highlighted by IRRC which also stated that the Department should work more closely with the legislature when undertaking such a significant and substantial rule change.

The Department of Labor and Industry will likely submit a final proposed rule, which IRRC could opt to reject if its questions are not sufficiently answered or directives not sufficiently adopted.