Tuesday, July 23, 2024

What does Project 2025 mean for employers? Wage and hour edition


In part 2 of my series on what Project 2025 means for employers and employment law, let's examine its proposed impact on wage and hour laws.

You'll find part 1, covering workplace discrimination laws, here.

Project 2025 proposes the following 5 key changes to the FLSA:

1. 160-Hour Work Month: Project 2025 would allow employers to define the work week over a period as long as four weeks. This change would enable employers to limit overtime pay to four-week periods in which non-exempt employees work more than 160 hours, instead of a one-week period in which they work more than 40 hours. Thus, if a non-exempt employee works 60 hours in week one, 50 hours in week two, 50 hours in week three, and zero hours in week four, the employee would not be eligible for any overtime pay for that entire four-week period.

2. Comp Time: It would permit non-exempt employees who work more than 40 hours in a work week to choose between receiving overtime pay or accumulating paid time off (i.e., comp time).

3. Sabbath Pay: It would require that employers pay non-exempt employees time and a half for all hours worked on the Sabbath.

4. Child Labor: It would allow teenagers to work in hazardous jobs, with training and parental consent.

5. Remote Work: It would limit overtime pay for non-exempt employees working remotely to those who work more than 40 hours in a week and 10 hours in a specific workday. It would also exclude from the regular rate of pay time spent setting up a home office and would further exclude home offices from OSHA regulations.

It is vital to understand Project 2025 so that you can make an informed decision when you vote this November. Do your research and decide if you support its vision of America. Then, vote accordingly.

Come back tomorrow for a discussion of what Project 2025 says about the National Labor Relations Act and union-management relations.