Obama DoL Overtime Rule vs Nonprofits?

The U.S. Department of Labor’s recent rule doubling the annual salary below which exempt employees must nonetheless be paid overtime for hours worked in excess of forty in a week doesn’t only affect for-profit employers. It affects not-for-profit employers, as well. Here (and in the “see also” article, below), we find some not-for-profits, including the prominent United States Public Interest Research Group, coming out against the new rule. We find spokespeople for other non-profits chastising those that have come out against the new overtime rule. Two quick questions that may be fodder for classroom discussion:

(1) Is there something about not-for-profits that makes inconsistent opposing wage-and-hour rules intended to benefit the lowest-paid salaried workers?

(2) Should not-for-profits be treated differently than for-profits under wage-and-hour regulations?
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LINK: Nonprofit Reactions to New Overtime Rules Run the Gamut (by MARTIN LEVINE AND RUTH MCCAMBRIDGE for Nonprofit Quarterly)

. . . For the millions of employees who may now see larger paychecks, the new rule is welcome news. But for their employers, these new rules will require some difficult decisions. . . .
. . .
From the moment the new rule was put forward for public comment in 2015, the nonprofit community has seen them as asking them to make a difficult choice, balancing their mission of helping those in need with the realities of operating. The National Council of Nonprofits encouraged “all nonprofits to conduct a mission-based analysis of the proposed regulations. That means answering questions about how the proposed increase in the minimum salary levels would affect operations, resources, and staffing, as well as what impact the draft regulations would have on persons relying on the services and the mission of the nonprofit” to evaluate the benefits of the changes being proposed.
. . .
. . . Rick Cohen’s “brief review of one third of the posted comments found there was not one positive comment from a nonprofit.” The comments he saw predicted dire outcomes, staff reductions, service cuts, and even agency closings. No one seemed to see the increased pay for those earning low salaries as an important benefit to be supported.

What do you think?

SEE ALSO: Jon Pratt, “What’s Wrong with This Picture? U.S. PIRG Protests Overtime Requirements,” Nonprofit Quarterly, May 24, 2016.

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