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Scope of new overtime rules disputed

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
The Associated Press

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The study by the Economic Policy Institute was released a day after three former Labor Department officials said in a report requested by the AFL-CIO that "large numbers" of employees entitled to overtime would no longer get it when the new rules take effect Aug. 23.

The Bush administration took issue with the findings.

"These latest studies are a rehash of misinformation that the AFL-CIO put out about the department's final overtime security rule in April, assertions that were completely discredited in congressional hearings," Labor Department spokesman Ed Frank said.

The department estimates that up to 107,000 workers making $100,000 or more annually could lose overtime under the new rules, while 1.3 million low-wage workers who are denied overtime will become eligible.

On a party-line vote yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee rejected an amendment by Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., that would have prohibited implementing any portions of the rule that would reduce the number of workers eligible for overtime.

Sen. John Kerry has said that if elected president, he will move to restore overtime protections to those who would lose it.

The presumptive Democratic nominee said the analysis by the former Labor officials, who worked in Republican and Democratic administrations, demonstrated that the Bush administration rules "represent a shameful assault on the paychecks of hardworking Americans."

The report by the Economic Policy Institute estimated that among those who would lose overtime protection are nearly 2 million administrative workers who can be classified as "team leaders" and 920,000 workers who can be reclassified as "learned professionals" even though they lack college degrees.

The EPI study also said 1.4 million workers who can be reclassified as executives because of the changes will lose overtime pay, as will an estimated 130,000 chefs and cooks, 160,000 financial-service workers and 117,000 teachers and computer programmers.

The EPI, which says it receives 29 percent of its support from labor unions and 59 percent from foundations, said its estimate of at least 6 million workers who will be denied overtime is based on revisions to the regulations issued in April. The original proposal from the administration would have eliminated overtime protection for 8 million workers, the EPI report said.

Democrats in Congress said yesterday that the new reports supported their assertion that the administration was distorting the effect of the new regulations.

The report by the former Labor Department officials released Tuesday said the rules change was likely to have a significant effect because "more classes of workers and a greater proportion of the work force overall will be exempt than we believe the Congress could have originally intended."

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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