A Call for the DOL to Fix What is Wrong With Our Wage-and-Hour Laws

Last week, President Barack Obama called upon the Secretary of Labor to “modernize and streamline the existing overtime regulations.” According to the President, the “regulations regarding exemptions from the Act’s overtime requirement, particularly for executive, administrative, and professional employees (often referred to as ‘white collar’ exemptions) have not kept up with our modern economy. Because these regulations are outdated, millions of Americans lack the protections of overtime and even the right to the minimum wage.”

I could not agree more with the President that the Fair Labor Standards Act’s regulations are outdated. In fact, I’ve been calling for a streamlining of the FLSA for nearly three years:

Congress enacted the FLSA during the Great Depression to combat the sweatshops that had taken over our manufacturing sector. In the 70+ years that have passed, it has evolved, via a complex web of regulations and interpretations, into an anachronistic maze of rules that even the best-intentioned employer cannot hope to comply with. I would bet any employer in this country a free wage and hour audit that I can find an FLSA violation in your pay practices. A regulatory scheme that is impossible to meet does not make sense to keep alive. Instead, what employers and employees need is a more streamlined system to ensure that workers are paid a fair wage.