To quickly access some articles published following a recent congressional hearing during which one of our top executives testified on the impact of the Department of Labor’s proposed changes to federal overtime rules, please click links below. Read on if you’d like additional information.
Last week, Eric Williams who was recently-promoted to CKE Chief Operating Officer and is also one of our company’s newest franchise owners, testified before the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Workforce Protections regarding the administration’s proposal to raise the salary threshold under which salaried employees would qualify for overtime pay from $23,660 a year to $50,440. Eric, who started his career at Hardee’s as a crew member in 1983 advancing through the ranks with various management positions at both company and franchise operations, criticized the proposal because it won’t help employees rise thru the ranks and will most likely result in reduced hours, reduced salaries or reduced bonuses.
As Eric put it during the hearing, “The very people this overtime proposal is intended to help will unfortunately be the biggest losers.” He goes on to tell committee members that individuals like him “may never reach their potential or realize their career dreams because of this change.” If you’d like to watch the hearing, please click here. Also, if you’d like to read what I had written on the topic last year, please click on this title: Obama’s Overtime-Pay Boomerang. Before taking a step that will reduce their future chances of success, the administration would be well-advised to consult with the salaried employees who they claim this proposal will help and see how they feel about the change. Chances are they’re more interested in earning their performance based bonuses and moving up rather than logging more hours.