Obama strikes again interfering in American businesses.
The latest Department of Labor regulation has doubled the threshold under which salaried employees must be paid overtime. So, now anyone making less than $47,000 per year must be paid overtime after 40 hours.
The government just doesn't get it. Being salaried is not a vehicle by which most businesses avoid fair compensation but a reward for being a valued and important member of the company. Not having the be on the clock is a matter of trust especially for employee centric companies. Businesses who take advantage of their employees and are hiding behind making people "managers" to do so, should be prosecuted under one of the many unfair labor laws already on the books. Not universal regulation dictating how a business has to run.
As an employer I allow my salaried employees considerable flexibility in their schedules. Got a doctor appointment, no problem go ahead, Got a kindergarten graduation, no problem go ahead. Need to leave after lunch to take care of a personal issue, no problem go ahead. No docking, no strings attached. They value this and always rise to the occasion when work has pressing demands, which I value as the employer. It is a two way street. The result of this edict is that I may now have to convert these folks to hourly employees and they will not only lose the scheduling flexibility but will now lose pay when they want the flexibility.
Like so many of the wrong headed decisions coming out of the White House they do not think things all the way through. The focus is always on a very small and vocal group of complainers and not on the folks who are trying to do what it takes to have careers, advance and achieve.
Mr. Obama has not a clue about business or the economy and how it really works. So, now we have more government intrusion into business that will force employers like me to heel to their regulations and impose them on our workers. I know that my salaried employees are not going to be happy about punching a time card - something they left behind years ago. They will ultimately feel demoted and that will effect their morale and possibly their performance.