A new rule from the U.S. Labor Department would make millions of workers eligible for overtime pay.
Right now, workers earning less than $23,660 annually qualify for overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours. The new rule would increase that threshold to more than $47,000.
Henry Marquard, Director of Government Affairs for the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, has some concerns — and at the top of that list is how drastically the threshold is rising.
"Instead of being spread out over a few years to give businesses and organizations a chance to build into compliance, this hits you smack with an over 100 percent increase," Marquard says.
He says businesses will either have to raise salaries above that threshold or cut hours.
According to the White House, only 7 percent of salaried workers benefit from overtime protections today, compared to 62 percent in the 1970s.
The new rule will go into effect December 1. Many groups plan to actively block it from taking effect, but Marquard says the Quad Cities chamber isn't advocating that.
"We recognize the rule hasn't been updated in a while and it needed to be updated," Marquard says. "That threshold did need to be increased. There are abuses from some companies that needed to be addressed. There's no doubt about that."
He recommends pushing for a gradual increase over a couple years and taking into account the cost of living in different regions.
The Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce is planning a workshop to teach businesses about the implications and what they need to know to comply with the rule.