Overtime Pay Changes Could Worsen Nursing Shortage:

[seeker4ever]

Health workers are among the millions of professionals whose right to overtime pay is being threatened after major changes in overtime regulations recently went into effect.

The new rules, proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor last year, went into effect on Aug. 23, revising U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act provisions that govern who is entitled to overtime. The rules make substantial changes to "tests" that are used to determine whether a worker is non-exempt and eligible for overtime, or exempt and non-eligible.

Previously, workers could only be classified as exempt if they earned more than a certain amount each week, were paid a set salary or had primarily "administrative," "professional" or "executive" duties, according to "Longer Hours, Less Pay," a July report from the Economic Policy Institute. Under the new rules, the number of workers whose duties would be considered exempt would dramatically increase. For example, the definition of "executive" will change so as to allow workers who do very little supervision to be recategorized and denied overtime, according to the report. The U.S. Department of Labor said the reforms will strengthen overtime protections for millions of workers, but the Economic Policy Institute estimated that 6 million will lose their eligibility for overtime.

"Millions of families count on overtime pay to make ends meet, a need that has only increased in importance as wage growth continues to stall," the report's authors wrote. "If anything, the protections that workers are afforded under the (Fair Labor Standards Act) should be further strengthened, not weakened."

To protest the changes, hundreds of workers gathered in front of the U.S. Department of Labor on Aug. 23 to demand their overtime pay eligibility be restored. Among the rally speakers was Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who has sponsored three amendments to block the overtime changes and ensure that overtime pay wouldn't be taken away from workers entitled to it before. Two of those amendments were passed in the Senate.
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http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/490353?src=mp

[cthrumatrix]

1. it's always about more for corporations...less for people

especially with repugs....

the tax cuts are nothing more than a gift to the elite...anything you got from a tax break is GONE with a rise ine verything else.

[rkc3]

2. Wouldn't more overtime mean more money in the pockets of consumers?

Wouldn't more money in the pockets of consumers mean more money could be spent/invested in the economy? To the benefit of everyone?

Isn't that the same logic used to support tax cuts for America's wealthiest?

America has to be the dumbest country on the planet to elect leaders who think that a tax cut for millionaires is better than overtime for someone struggling to make it week to week. And that's just one example of the stupidity allowed by those who vote these knuckelheads into office.