NRF: More time needed on overtime pay extension

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation on Wednesday asked the Labor Department to give businesses more time to respond to the administration’s proposal to expand overtime saying the plan’s “drastic changes” will require “extensive analysis” and require companies to speculate on “hypothetical proposals.”



“NRF wants to provide the department with the most accurate and comprehensive assessment of the impact of the proposed salary changes on the retail community,” NRF senior VP for government relations David French said in a letter. “NRF therefore strongly urges the department to extend the comment period … and better understand how such drastic changes to the white collar exemptions could affect employers and employees in the retail industry.”



NRF asked that the September deadline for businesses to submit comments be extended by 60 days to November 3.



Under current rules, anyone making up to $455 a week is guaranteed overtime if they work more than 40 hours, but those making more can be declared exempt if they meet “job duties” tests such as having supervision of other workers as their primary duty.



Under the proposal, the salary threshold would rise to $970. But rather than proposing specific changes in the job duties tests, the administration is asking whether the tests should be changed and what changes should be made, the NRF said.



“This unprecedented increase in the salary threshold and the failure to consider regional differences will necessitate further economic assessments and feedback from NRF members,” French wrote.



Provisions indexing the salary threshold to inflation are “wholly new concepts for the white collar exemptions and will also require extensive analysis,” he said.



French said the request for businesses to comment on whether changes should be made to the job duties tests rather than laying out specific proposed changes and asking for a response is unusual.



“Leaving such an open-ended question without another comment period means that NRF and its members will have to comment on hypothetical proposals rather than an actual change,” French said. “This lack of clarity further complicates the comment process and increases the amount of time stakeholders will need to provide meaningful feedback.”



A study conducted for NRF by Oxford Economics found that expanding overtime could cost retailers $9.5 billion in added payroll costs if fully implemented, but that the tight economy would force many employers to offset the added expense by limiting hours or reducing base pay, among other steps.