ARTICLE
Gov. Wolf is following through with a promise he made back in January to overhaul overtime pay rules. He’s pushing a proposal that would nearly double the salary threshold below which salaried employees must be paid overtime. The threshold would increase from $24,000 to $48,000 over the course of three years. This proposal is estimated to affect over a half million workers in Pennsylvania. "The chamber membership is fine with changing the threshold but let's change it so that it makes sense," says Michelle Young, the Executive Vice President of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, who cautions that this proposal will also put employees in a tough spot. "Employees love flexibility. I mean, we have so many working moms on our team alone. I can tell you that if they had to punch in and punch out from 8-5, they would use all their sick time and vacation time." But with a loss in flexibility comes an increase in pay, something State Representative Mike Schlossberg is passionate about. "The limit was set almost 40 years ago. $24,000. If that limit kept up with inflation it would be a little over $100,000," said Schlossberg. Gov. Wolf is pushing this proposal through without a House vote by amending the rules of the Labor Department. Schlossberg agrees with the approach, saying "In the absence of legislative action I see why the governor is taking executive action and I'm glad hes doing it. I think that's a good thing." Young hopes the governor lends an open ear, saying "We really hope that, as a business man, he'll wanna take into account this community's feedback on this." Businesses and employees have until July 22 to submit a comment to the Department of Labor and Industry.
Gov. Wolf is following through with a promise he made back in January to overhaul overtime pay rules.
He’s pushing a proposal that would nearly double the salary threshold below which salaried employees must be paid overtime. The threshold would increase from $24,000 to $48,000 over the course of three years. This proposal is estimated to affect over a half million workers in Pennsylvania.
"The chamber membership is fine with changing the threshold but let's change it so that it makes sense," says Michelle Young, the Executive Vice President of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, who cautions that this proposal will also put employees in a tough spot. "Employees love flexibility. I mean, we have so many working moms on our team alone. I can tell you that if they had to punch in and punch out from 8-5, they would use all their sick time and vacation time."
But with a loss in flexibility comes an increase in pay, something State Representative Mike Schlossberg is passionate about. "The limit was set almost 40 years ago. $24,000. If that limit kept up with inflation it would be a little over $100,000," said Schlossberg. Gov. Wolf is pushing this proposal through without a House vote by amending the rules of the Labor Department. Schlossberg agrees with the approach, saying "In the absence of legislative action I see why the governor is taking executive action and I'm glad hes doing it. I think that's a good thing." Young hopes the governor lends an open ear, saying "We really hope that, as a business man, he'll wanna take into account this community's feedback on this." Businesses and employees have until July 22 to submit a comment to the Department of Labor and Industry.