Today, U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-La.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (SBC), held a hearing entitled, “An Examination of the Administration’s Overtime Rule and the Rising Costs of Doing Business.” At the hearing, Committee Members examined the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed overtime pay rule and the subsequent impact on small businesses.

During the hearing, Vitter questioned Ms. Tammy McCutchen, former Administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, on the impacts of DOL’s broad rule on states whose percent of salaried full-time workers earning below $970/week was over 40%. Ms. McCutchen made clear that lower cost-of-living states, such as Louisiana, would disproportionately carry a higher economic burden than others from the Administration’s latest one-size-fits-all approach.

Click here to watch Vitter’s exchange with Ms. Tammy McCutchen

Vitter also heard from Mr. Octavio Mantilla, co-owner of the Besh Restaurant Group of New Orleans, La., on how the overtime rule would affect advancement opportunities for employees in the workplace, particularly in the restaurant industry.

Click here to watch Vitter’s exchange with New Orleans restaurateur Octavio Mantilla

Numerous stakeholders have voiced concerns that the rule will limit workplace opportunity and flexibility for both workers and employers. DOL’s proposed rule would substantially increase the number of workers who qualify for overtime pay in a one-size-fits-all proposal that would more than double the threshold for overtime pay from $23,660 to $50,440.

In September 2015, Vitter sent a letter to DOL Secretary Tom Perez, urging Perez to extend the public comment period for the proposed rule. To date, the Obama Administration is moving forward with the proposed rule despite objections from Congress, non-profits, and small businesses.

Click here to watch today’s hearing.

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