{"id":110052,"date":"2019-12-06T11:10:38","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T16:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=110052"},"modified":"2019-12-06T11:10:38","modified_gmt":"2019-12-06T16:10:38","slug":"james-urges-u-s-department-of-labor-to-withdraw-proposal-that-would-decrease-employee-earnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=110052","title":{"rendered":"James urges U.S. Department of Labor to withdraw proposal that would decrease employee earnings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Attorney General Letitia James<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

James, 17 attorneys general argue the proposal will result\nin longer hours, lower pay<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attorney General Letitia James joined a coalition of 18\nattorneys general in opposing a proposal by the U.S. Department of Labor to\nchange the method employers use to calculate overtime, which would force\nemployees to work longer shifts while reducing their weekly earnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coalition issued a letter urging the U.S. Department of\nLabor (DOL) to withdraw its proposed rule amending the DOL\u2019s regulation on the\nfluctuating workweek method of computing overtime. The coalition argues that\nthe DOL\u2019s proposal to arbitrarily expand the application of the fluctuating\nworkweek method compromises worker safety, reduces workers\u2019 compensation for\novertime work, and makes it more difficult for employers to comply with fair\nlabor laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith this proposal, the Trump Administration is continuing\nits tradition of turning its back on hard-working Americans,\u201d said Attorney\nGeneral James. \u201cNot only does the proposal allow employers to force individuals\nto work more hours, they would be forced to do it for less money. Taking\nadvantage of workers is unacceptable, and we will work with our state partners\nto push back against the U.S. Department of Labor to ensure safety, rightful\ncompensation and fairness in the workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the fluctuating workweek rule, employers can agree to\npay a limited class of employees whose hours fluctuate from week to week a\nfixed salary for all hours worked. Those employees\u2019 regular rate of pay is\ncalculated by dividing the employee\u2019s fixed salary by their total hours worked.\nEmployers must then pay those employees an additional half of their regular\nrate for each overtime hour worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rule has long been held as being incompatible in\ninstances in which employees receive additional pay like bonuses and shift differentials\nlinked to the hours they work. The fluctuating workweek rule is the only rule\nunder which workers\u2019 hourly and overtime rates of pay actually decrease as the\namount of hours they work per week increase. For that reason, states such as\nIllinois and Pennsylvania use a modified fluctuating workweek method or apply\nit only in the narrow set of circumstances allowed under current law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DOL\u2019s proposal would expand the application of the\nfluctuating workweek to employees who receive any kind of additional pay,\nincluding pay incentives linked to employees\u2019 hours worked, despite decades of\nlegal precedent. In their letter, the coalition argues that expanding the use\nof the fluctuating workweek rule decreases an employee\u2019s regular and overtime\nrate of pay the more the employee works. The coalition also argues that while\nthe DOL claims the proposed rule will boost job creation, it actually creates\nincentives for employers to overwork employees instead of hiring additional\nstaff. As employers reduce fixed salaries in lieu of paying employees premiums\nfor working specific shifts, employees unable to work shifts offering premium\npay will receive greatly reduced wages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the attorneys general point out that the DOL\u2019s\nproposed rule undermines the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which was enacted\nin 1938 and ensures that employees are fairly compensated for working more than\n40 hours per week. Instead of protecting workers from long hours and unfair\ncompensation, the proposed rule threatens to expand the use of the only method\nfor calculating overtime where the more the employee works, the less the\nemployee is paid for each hour of overtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed rule also runs counter to past court and\ndepartment precedent. For decades, courts have held that employers may only use\nthe fluctuating workweek rule when employees earn a fixed salary for all hours\nof work. In 2011, the DOL rejected a similar proposed rule because it would\nhave the unintended consequence of allowing employers to pay a lower fixed salary\nand shift employees\u2019 compensation into bonuses, resulting in wide pay\ndisparities depending on the hours employees worked. The attorneys general\nargue that, in light of this precedent, the DOL offers no evidence to\nnecessitate its policy change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joining Attorney General James in submitting the letter, led\nby Illinois Kwame Attorney General Raoul and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh\nShapiro, are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut,\nDelaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota,\nNevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James, 17 attorneys general argue the proposal will result in longer hours, lower pay Attorney General Letitia James joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general in opposing a proposal by the U.S. Department of Labor to change the method employers use to calculate overtime, which would force employees to work longer shifts while reducing their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23810,32,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellbeing","category-crime","category-top-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Attorney-General-Letitia-James.jpg?fit=2832%2C4256&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p43meu-sD2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/98849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}