Washington, DC - While the nation prepared last week for the celebration of the nation's 239th birthday, President Obama proposed "a new way to stymie job creation and economic growth," Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens.
Mr. Obama announced a new overtime pay regulation that will "burden the nation's most important job creators - America's small businesses - with yet another regulation that can only impair opportunities for workers to achieve adequate employment. Some put the cost of compliance at more than $9.5 billion a year," Weber said.
The new rule would "force small businesses - even those that can't afford it - to pay overtime to employees who make up to as much as $50,440 a year." Under the current standard, workers who make less than $23,660 a year must receive overtime pay.
The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council was among the first to react, issuing a statement pointing out that: "business owners will be forced to eliminate management opportunities for employees, thus undermining a critical path for individuals to gain valuable skills and experiences for career growth and financial success."
The SBE Council's president, Karen Kerrigan, said the proposed regulation shows how "out-of-touch" the administration with the needs of job seekers and job creators."
Other business groups pointed out that the new regulation reduces the chances for employees to earn an adequate living. "It's going to limit advancement opportunities, and ultimately it will reduce employee benefits," the National Retail Federal said. The NRF noted that businesses will be forced to compensate for the rule by reducing or eliminating opportunities for promotion and by replacing salaried employees with hourly workers.
"The argument that the new regulation will help workers is as phony as the improving unemployment figures the government provides weekly. Increasing the number of workers eligible for overtime pay will only increase the ranks of the underemployed. Businesses will have the choice of shutting down and eliminating jobs or limiting the number of full time workers they employ. The Obama administration has already narrowed the number of full time positions available by, in effect, mandating the 30-hour work week with programs such as Obamacare," Weber said.
The Washington Post recently reported that the number of bread-earners who are forced to take part time jobs to make ends meet rose by more than one million in June to 27 million.
"There's a gnawing fear among some economists that the improving [unemployment] data provides false comfort," the Post reported. Carrie Gleason, director of the Fair Work Week Initiative was quoted. She said: "What we're seeing is a growing trend of low-quality part-time jobs. It's creating this massive unproductive workforce that is unable to productively engage in their lives or in the economy."
