Overtime rule hurts workers

USA TODAY’s support of a Department of Labor overtime regulation assumes that the regulation helps working class people and that it would fit in with the new administration’s economic plan.

In fact, this regulation would hurt many of the salaried professionals who would have had to be reclassified as hourly wage earners.

A salaried position brings greater flexibility, improved benefits in many cases and a stable income. Employees who lose this status would be unlikely to rush home and excitedly tell their spouse, “Honey, great news! I just got made an hourly employee again!”

Where employers have announced plans to reclassify white- collar employees, they have heard extremely negative reactions from employees who typically see hourly employment as a demotion.

Furthermore, being eligible for overtime is not the same as earning overtime. Employers adjusting to the new rule could, and would, restrict employee hours to make sure they stay below the 40 hours per week trigger. And small businesses, nonprofits and public sector employers would be especially impacted by the loss of flexibility when they cap hours ( or by the added costs of overtime when they cannot).

The Trump administration has good reasons not to defend the rule, reasons that are entirely consistent with helping working- class people. As the court recognized, the Department of Labor went too far when it attempted to force over 4 million white collar salaried employees into hourly wage positions — employees that the Fair Labor Standards Act plainly says “shall” be exempt from overtime requirements.

The overtime regulation demonstrated the Obama administration’s focus on exerting control over employers. But government mandates are no substitute for economic growth and, contrary to the administration’s assertions, they do little to lift the middle class.

The overtime rule was just another example of how this administration ignored the limits on executive power. If the Trump supporters sent one message, it was rejecting this imperious attitude.

Randy Johnson is senior vice president of labor, immigration and employee benefits at the U. S. Chamber of Commerce.