The Obama administration last month proposed increasing the salary limit under which workers are paid overtime to $50,440 from $23,660.
Now companies must deal with the fallout from that decision, figuring out how many hours their employees work and how to manage those amounts.
While the rules won’t be finalized for months, "already companies are seeking ways to comply with the law and keep a lid on labor costs,"
write Wall Street Journal reporters Rachel Feintzeig, Rachel Emma Silverman and Lauren Weber.
"Some firms are installing software that alerts managers when workers are at risk of running up overtime pay, while others are evaluating which staffers should receive salaries and which should switch to hourly pay. And others may discourage checking email after working hours."
Ron Peppe, vice president of human resources for Canam Steel, described the difficulties to The Journal. "It’s a big logistical issue to make sure you’re catching all the time," he said.
Meanwhile, presidential frontrunners Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton are both trying to build their campaigns on a fight to boost the beleaguered middle class.
But they're going about it the wrong way, says John Tamny, political economy editor at Forbes. "While they’re not terribly similar in terms of policies, each has chosen to pander to an apparently easy to gull middle class,"
he writes on Forbes.com.
So what should the two candidates do?
"Were both Clinton and Bush more economically attuned, and perhaps a bit more honest, they would correctly say that the best and only way to achieve their goals would be to substantially reduce the tax burden foisted on the rich and big corporations alike," Tamny maintains.
"Nothing could be simpler, yet each candidate seems rather eager to not be seen as too cozy with the successful. That’s odd, and not just when we consider the net worth of Clinton and Bush, along with those donating to Clinton and Bush."
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