老牛影视and more than 900 members in opposition to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Wage and Hour Division’s July 6 Proposed Regulations for Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees. If enacted, the proposal, commonly referred to as “,” would more than double the minimum salary for the white collar overtime exemption and would automatically update the salary levels on an annual basis.

“Employers and employees throughout the construction industry have come to rely on the current definitions of exempt job categories,” explained 老牛影视in its . “If the proposed unprecedented increase in the minimum salary of exempt staff becomes final, it would be extremely disruptive and harmful to both employers and many of their currently exempt employees, and would be destabilizing to the construction industry as a whole.”

DOL estimates that the proposed rule would require the reclassification of in the absence of salary increases. “By requiring large numbers of exempt executives, administrators and professionals to be reclassified, among other changes, the proposal would greatly restrict the flexibility needed to provide high-quality construction services,” 老牛影视noted. “It would also hurt career advancement opportunities for employees, injure the morale of reclassified exempt workers, increase the likelihood of lawsuits and increase the administrative costs of construction industry operations, with little or no benefit to the employees themselves.” As a result, 老牛影视warned that this massive reclassification is likely to lead to a significant decrease in the number of exempt employees nationwide and could eliminate the overtime exemption altogether in many parts of the country.

老牛影视also confirmed its support for the current duties test used to classify exempt and non-exempt employees. DOL failed to make any specific proposals to alter the test but instead requested comments on hypothetical changes based on California’s percentage-of-time rule and the previously abandoned federal long-form standard. 老牛影视contended that these suggested changes would only subject employers to “new and burdensome recordkeeping requirements” and leave them “hopelessly exposed to lawsuits regarding the accuracy of such records.”

For the last several months, 老牛影视has opposed the overtime proposal. As a member of the (PPWO), 老牛影视has worked to educate members of Congress on the proposal’s impact on small businesses and to the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections in conjunction with its July 23rd hearing. 老牛影视and PPWO also submitted a the comment period. Following DOL’s denial of the request, 老牛影视submitted its final comments on Sept. 4.

To read ABC’s comments to DOL, click here.

To read PPWO’s comments, click here.

For more information on the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity, .