The Fair Labor Standards Act: A Historical Sketch of the Overtime Pay Requirements of Section 13(a)(1) Page: 41 of 93
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CRS-36
to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. No action has
been taken on either bill.
A Hearing in the Senate: Round One. On July 31, 2003, a hearing on the
proposed overtime rule was conducted by the Labor, Health and Human Services,
and Education Subcommittee on the Senate Appropriations Committee.163 Chaired
by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), the Subcommittee searched for common ground
for agreement between DOL and those critical of the proposed regulation. 164
Much of the testimony focused upon what the proposed Section 13(a)(1) rule
would do. Ross Eisenbrey, speaking for the labor-oriented Economic Policy Institute,
argued that DOL had seriously underestimated the likely impact of the rule. He
suggested that the Department had not been entirely open with respect to the
assumptions and methodology upon which its estimates were based. So the Institute,
he explained, conducted its own analysis and came to conclusions somewhat
different from those of DOL. Eisenbrey was concerned about definitions embedded
in the rule - which could, he suggested, result in a significant body of workers being
moved out from under the wage/hour protection of the Act.165 Wage/Hour
Administrator Tammy McCutchen conceded that some workers would be reclassified
to exempt status, but she argued that the impact would be slight. Quoted in the Daily
Labor Report, she affirmed: "We have no intention of expanding the exemptions."166
The hearing established a context for debate; it did not appear to achieve
common ground. 167
The Study Commission Proposal. During the summer, critics of the
proposed rule continued to voice concern - with respect to the particular workers
who could be adversely impacted; and, more broadly, with respect to the implications
of the regulatory change for the general structure of federal wage/hour regulation.
On September 9, 2003, in an effort to avoid any "disruption which would be
occasioned ... by the [proposed DOL] regulations going into effect" and, hopefully,
to effect a reasonable accommodation, Senator Specter introduced S. 1611. The bill
proposed a commission of eleven members with representatives from business, the
public sector, and organized labor. The commission would seem to bring clarity with
respect to existing overtime pay regulations and the possible impact of the proposed
rule.
163 The Subcommittee also considered revision of the Labor-Management Reporting and
Disclosure Act and new technologies for combating the hazard of coal dust for miners.
164 Press Release, Labor-HHS Subcommittee Hearings for July 31, U.S. Senate Committee
on Appropriations, July 25, 2003.
165 Testimony of Ross Eisenbrey, July 31, 2003, Senate Appropriations Committee website,
visited Jan. 29, 2004.
166 DLR, Aug. 1, 2003, p. AA1.
167 U.S. Congress. Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Departments of
Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies, Proposed Rule
on Overtime Pay, 108'h Cong., 1St sess., July 31, 2003 (Washington: GPO, 2004).
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Whittaker, William G. The Fair Labor Standards Act: A Historical Sketch of the Overtime Pay Requirements of Section 13(a)(1), report, May 9, 2005; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc820733/m1/41/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.