community Service means Business!

4 August 2004

...meanwhile, in other parts of the news,....

Save Overtime Pay!

The Bush administration’s yearlong drive to take away millions of U.S. workers’ overtime pay protections could become law Aug. 23, unless Congress acts to stop it.

President George W. Bush used the federal regulatory process, which does not require congressional approval, to make it easier for employers to avoid paying overtime to their employees. The new overtime regulations, which redefine who is eligible for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act, were published in the Federal Register in April.

Since then, the U.S. Senate twice voted to block any changes in the overtime eligibility regulations. But in the House, Republican leaders refuse to even let the issue come up for debate.

Take action to save your overtime pay!


Sign the petition to protect overtime pay at www.saveovertimepay.org.

Tell President Bush to withdraw his overtime pay take-away.

Get the Myths and Facts about Bush’s new overtime regulations.

Read AFL-CIO President John Sweeney’s statement on the House refusal to debate overtime.

The nation’s top three police employee organizations question new overtime regulations.

Read what nurses have to say about the new overtime regulations.

See how your senators voted on the Harkin overtime amendment.

Read former Labor Department wage and hour investigator’s testimony about the Bush plan.

See the Economic Policy Institute’s analysis of the Bush overtime rule.

See the Flash cartoon, “Overtime Pay B-Gone.”

Listen to AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson’s radio comments on overtime for the Democratic National Committee (in Spanish).

Recent Economic Policy Institute work on overtime issues:


“Comments filed by employer organizations support EPI’s conclusion that the proposal will lead to employers disqualifying workers from earning overtime pay. For example, Hewitt Associates, a leading human resources consultant, wrote in a memo to clients: "In any event, these proposed changes likely will open the door for employers to reclassify a large number of previously nonexempt employees as exempt. The resulting effect on compensation and morale could be detrimental, as employees previously accustomed to earning, in some cases, significant amounts of overtime pay would suddenly lose that opportunity."
“On September 9, 2003, the Senate voted to block any of the provisions in the new rules that would deny workers overtime pay. The House, on October 1, reversed a previous vote and voted to instruct negotiators, when they meet with the Senate to reconcile differences over the Labor Department’s appropriations, to support the Senate’s language to block the new proposal from stripping workers of their overtime rights.”

“The Administration however, threatened to veto any bill that included the Harkin amendment. Under the threat of a veto, on January 22, 2004, the Harkin amendment was stripped from the appropriations bill and the massive federal
spending bill was passed. The Department of Labor announced that it expects to issue the final rules by the end of March. Efforts to block the government's plan to deny workers their overtime rights continue.”

Visit Viewpoints to read EPI Vice President Ross Eisenbrey's May 20 congressional testimony on the Department of Labor's final overtime regulations.

Read EPI Vice President Ross Eisenbrey's written testimony delivered on May 4, 2004 before the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee of the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations, On the Department of Labor’s Final Overtime Regulations: Preliminary Analysis of DOL's Final Rule on Overtime Exemptions.

Read the January 20, 2004 testimony on the Department of Labor's proposed rule on overtime pay presented by EPI senior economist Jared Bernstein before the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education of the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations.

Read The Truth Behind the Administration's Numbers on Overtime Pay, an explanation of the vast difference between Department of Labor and EPI estimates of the number of workers that would be affected by DOL's proposed overtime regulation.

DOL Overtime Rule Won’t Guarantee Overtime Pay for 1.3 million Low-Income Workers

Read the December 11, 2003 testimony on the Department of Labor's proposed overtime regulation presented by EPI vice president Ross Eisenbrey before the U.S. Senate Democratic Policy Committee.

Read the EPI Briefing Paper, Eliminating the right to overtime pay. Read a summary of the paper's findings in the News Release Millions Stand to Lose Overtime Pay Under Bush Plan .

Top Employer Groups Name Specific Occupations And Activities To Be Ineligible For Overtime Under New Regulations

Read the July 31, 2003 testimony of EPI Vice President Ross Eisenbrey before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Read the December 5, 2003 op-ed about Bush administration's changes to the rules governing overtime pay.

The Department of Labor's Claims about the Overtime Rule: A Rebuttal

Read EPI Vice President Ross Eisenbrey's October 29 letter of explanation to House Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, regarding inquiries about the Department of Labor's proposed revisions to overtime regulations.
Occupations In Danger Of Losing Right To Overtime Pay If Proposed DOL Rule Changes Are Passed

U.S. Employer Groups Hail Proposed DOL Overtime Regulations

Read the February 14, 2003 op-ed, Just What the Worker Needs -- Longer Days, No Overtime.

Read the August 31, 2003 op-ed, Sad Labor Day for Working Americans

Economic Policy Institute's Recommendations to Clarify U.S. Department of Labor's Overtime Rules


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