This past July, the
federal government sent the shot over the bow to all employers in America that
there will be changes to federal overtime rules. In advance of the December 1,
2016 implementation date, the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC)
Guam Chapter used their August Monthly meeting to discuss this important change
with their membership. Member and Chief
Operating Officer of Pacific Human Resources Services Inc. Grace Donaldson
broke down the final rule changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Donaldson shared that the final rule focuses
primarily on the updating the salary and compensation levels needed for
Executive, Administrative and Professional workers to be exempt.
Among the changes,
the rule sets the standard salary level at the 40th percentile of earnings of
full-time salaried workers, sets the total annual compensation requirement for
highly compensated employees (HCE) subject to a minimal duties test and
establishes a mechanism for automatically updating the salary and compensation
levels every three years to maintain the new percentile levels. Donaldson used
examples and sought member input and questions relative to the duties test to
better understand the impacts to the Guam workforce.
Donaldson noted that
Guam's visitor industry would be hit the hardest with this rule change. The hotel industry relies heavily on modestly
paid middle managers, who are exempt from overtime, to pick up the slack—and
extra hours—when called upon. Some of the flexibility may be a thing of the
past as property owners adjust to the new rule.
The changes could
rattle industries that have long used a federal exemption for so-called
“creative professionals” to avoid paying some workers overtime, like architects.
The US Department of Labor currently gives businesses some latitude in deciding
who meets the criteria. But under the new rules, no one making less than $47,476
a year could be considered a creative professional exempt from overtime.
Even the American
Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) has formally asked DOL for removal from the
regulatory list that blocks travel agents from an exemption from federal
overtime rules.
Will there be an end?
One thing is for
sure, change is coming and the Guam NAWIC Chapter will be keeping a close eye
on its developments as we head into the latter half of the year.
GET,
LLC is proud to be a member of NAWIC and the Guam Chapter-one of 150 chapters with
a network of 4,500 members nationwide.
We hold NAWIC's core values close to our business- Believe. Persevere.
Dare. Check out our website at www.get-guam.com or drop us a line to
help us do our part to grow this important industry.