March 02, 2017

Warren, Murray, Brown Question Businesses on Support of Expanded Overtime Rule

Amid Administration Silence, Senators Raise Concerns about Trump Rollbacks of $1.2 Billion In Pay Raises For American Workers

Trump Pick for Labor Secretary Has Not Taken a Position on Helping More Workers Get Overtime Pay

Washington, D.C. - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member on the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Ranking Member on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) today sent letters to 14 companies asking whether they oppose efforts to block new rules expanding overtime protections for 4.2 million new workers. The letters follow recent reports that President Trump may refuse to defend the Department of Labor's (DOL) new overtime rule in court, effectively blocking $1.2 billion in pay raises for American families. It is also unclear whether Alexander Acosta, President Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Labor, supports the overtime rule.

"We are deeply troubled at the prospect of President Trump--who campaigned on promises to stand up for American workers-turning his back on the millions of Americans who stand to benefit from the overtime rule," the senators wrote. "The DOL estimates that 4.2 million salaried workers will become newly eligible for overtime pay as a result of the expanded salary threshold. The rule is also expected to raise overall wages by $1.2 billion each year and "pave the way for about [120,000] new hires."

The letters continued, "In addition to robbing American workers of hard-earned raises, rolling back the overtime rule would harm companies that have already spent time and money implementing the rule."

"Significant changes to the rule going forward would result in increased legal fees, compliance costs, and time spent implementing those changes," the letter concludes.

The senators wrote to companies that have already begun implementing changes to ensure that their employees are still able to benefit from these changes. "Given the work your company has already done to comply with the overtime rule, we wanted to find out whether you will support any efforts by the Trump Administration to reverse the significant progress made by your company, and many companies nationwide."

The full list of companies that received the letter and links to the PDF of each are below:

Bob Evans Farms
Brand Value Accelerator, LLC
CKE Restaurants
Georgetown University
The Kroger Company
Office Depot, Inc.
PNC Financial Services Group
Shake Shack
Staples
The TJX Companies, Inc.
TX Roadhouse, Inc.
Walmart
The Wendy's Company
White Castle Systems, Inc.

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