They may not know what’s going to happen to it, but business owners have opinions about the Fair Labor Standards Act’s rule on overtime pay.
The Department of Labor was granted an expedited review of the rule by a federal appeals court after challenges to its adoption resulted in a preliminary injunction from Judge Amos Mazzant of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas that prevented the rule from taking effect as planned on December 1, 2016.
But that expedited review won’t continue till after the new administration is in place, at which point the DOL’s case could be dropped, with the rule possibly dying, since it would be returned to a lower court — and that probability isn’t all that far-fetched, since Trump has said he intends to undo rules and executive orders issued by President Obama.
However, he doesn’t necessarily want to kill this one completely; instead, he has expressed a desire for exemptions for small businesses as well as other revisions. But even if he drops the DOL appeal, the rule would go back to a lower court, where it could face a permanent injunction. Currently, the new rule is on hold.
According to an HRDive report, time tracking firm TSheets surveyed 500 business owners on what they think the fate of the overtime rule will be under the Trump administration. While 40% of respondents say they don’t know what will happen to the rule, 25% say they believe it will be revised; only 5.2% say they think it will still be enacted in full.
But a good portion — 29% — say Trump will “permanently block or water down” the rule, and the mixed reactions of respondents “may explain much of the regulatory confusion surrounding the rule.”
In the meantime, the existing rule — last updated in 2004 — remains in effect. But in another report, HRDive says, “considering [Trump’s] pick for DOL secretary, it’s unlikely the rule will survive.”
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