Washington, D.C. – (RealEstateRama) — Ed Brady, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Bloomington, Ill., issued the following statement regarding a report that the U.S. Department of Labor is proposing to lower its new overtime threshold from $50,440 to $47,000.
“The Department of Labor is considering a plan to reduce the cap on its proposed overtime salary threshold rate hike from $50,440 to $47,000 that is a token effort at best. This drastic hike would still wreak havoc on the residential housing sector, the nation’s small businesses and the economy. This minimal reduction would still amount to a 99 percent increase from the current overtime salary limit of $23,660. This proposal is clearly not serious and is unacceptable to America’s small businesses.
“The unintended consequences of this aggressive regulatory overreach would hurt job and economic growth, as well as many of the workers the plan is trying to help. There is no reasonable approach or road map on how this would be phased in without resulting in severe economic repercussions. If the $47,000 overtime threshold were to become law, it would hurt millions of small business owners, including home building firms, by forcing them to scale back on pay and benefits, as well as cutting workers’ hours to avoid overtime requirements. Indeed, it would be particularly harmful to the housing community, as the vast majority of home building firms have fewer than 10 employees.
“The Department of Labor must scrap this unworkable proposal and go back to the drawing board. We stand ready to work with DOL to craft a practical plan that would gradually ramp up the current overtime threshold so that it does not result in real hardship for small businesses. The rule should also take into account regional variations in wages and cost of living when determining its formula. Such a measured response would help small business, workers and the economy.”
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