Dear WH&LA Lodging Member:
The American Hotel & Lodging Association sent a message out today to their members asking for one minute of your time to help slow down the federal Department of Labor (DOL)'s extremely costly and detrimental proposed Overtime Rule that will dramatically increase (more than double!) the base pay required for employees to be considered Exempt from Overtime. Only Congress can slow this extreme measure down now, and for them to take action, volumes of voices asking them to do so is what it will take.
Take a moment to consider how this will impact your business if only your employees earning over $50,440 could be considered "Exempt" - from a cost, scheduling, and staff shortages view alone. The AH&LA advisory shown at the bottom of this message provides some information, however please note that the links are customized and will not work in this framing.
Thus we suggest that you go to each of our Wisconsin Senator's links noted below, plus select the link to your own Congressional Representative also listed below, then copy and paste a simple message we have provided for your convenience below.
Contact both:
Contact only your representative below:
Subject Line:
Please support S. 2707/ H.R. 4773 Requiring DOL to First Study Impact of Proposed Overtime Rule
Message:
The Department of Labor continues to expedite their proposed new Rule
doubling
the salary threshold for employees eligible for overtime pay without taking the time to justly consider both the thousands of comments received during the rules process nor conducting an objective study of the impact of this new rule on both employers and employees who will be adversely impacted by this change.
Wisconsin's tourism industry is one of the largest industries in our state, employing over a hundred thousand employees. We are a service industry with a great reputation for warm Wisconsin hospitality that keeps travelers coming back to our lodging properties and spending money in our state. This rule that removes the flexibility to accommodate the fluctuations of our industry will hurt both us as employers, but also our employees trying to service the many travelers in our state that support us all and generate tax revenue for our state.
Please support S. 2707/ H.R. 4773, companion bills that will simply require the DOL to conduct an objective economic impact study before issuing a ruling that will hurt employers and employees in our state.
Thank-you.
As the Department of Labor (DOL) is set to finalize its final rule on overtime regulations, we need your help today to advocate on this critical issue that will impact the bottom line of all hoteliers. Unfortunately, the DOL has sent its final overtime rule to the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review. This represents the last mandatory step that the Department of Labor has to take before issuing a final regulation.
The proposed rule more than doubles the salary threshold for employees eligible for overtime pay to $50,440 from the current threshold of $23,660. This extreme 113% increase will not only impact hoteliers, but importantly will negatively impact opportunities for employees through less schedule flexibility, which is so important in the hospitality, and a decline in morale as significant numbers are reclassified as hourly.
AH&LA serves on the Executive Committee of the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity which has been working tirelessly to educate members of Congress on the severe negative consequences this extreme increase to the overtime threshold will have on both employers and employees. Through our combined efforts, legislation was introduced in the Senate (S.2707) and House (H.R. 4773) titled, the "Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity Act." This bi-partisan legislation would force the Department of Labor to rescind the current rule and conduct a detailed economic impact study prior to any reissuance of a regulation.
You can send a letter to both your Senator and Representative in Congress urging them to cosponsor and support S.2707/ H.R. 4773, the "Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity Act." It takes less than 60 SECONDS, but it will help galvanize Congressional support for this critical legislation while also sending a message to the DOL that the hotel industry has some very serious concerns about these short-sighted changes to the overtime regulations.
Please take this action now and if you have any further questions or concerns, don't hesitate to reach out to me at bcrawford@ahla.com directly. Thank you for your continued involvement and support.
Brian Crawford
Vice President, Government and Political Affairs
