--- title: "Obama Overtime Plan Draws Frosty Association Response" id: "29126" type: "post" slug: "obama-overtime-plan-draws-frosty-association-response" published_at: "2015-06-30T20:45:15+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-16T14:15:11+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2015/06/30/obama-overtime-plan-draws-frosty-association-response/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2015/06/30/obama-overtime-plan-draws-frosty-association-response.md" excerpt: "The president's plan to expand the pool of overtime recipients through a rule change drew negative responses from key business groups this week. The change comes on the heels of a Supreme Court ruling that left the Affordable Care Act..." taxonomy_category: - "Advocacy" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Business" - "IT Policy" - "labor rights" - "mandatory overtime" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "For-Profit CEO / President / Owner / Partner" taxonomy_persona: - "Executive Leadership" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Obama Overtime Plan Draws Frosty Association Response Associations are working overtime to take on a controversial overtime plan. The plan, [announced Monday night on the Huffington Post (opens in a new tab)](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barack-obama/a-hard-days-work-deserves-a-fair-days-pay_b_7691922.html) blog by President Barack Obama, would expand the maximum threshold for overtime protections from $23,660 per year to $50,400 per year—a change that could open up overtime to as many as 5 million more Americans. “That’s good for workers who want fair pay, and it’s good for business owners who are already paying their employees what they deserve—since those who are doing right by their employees are undercut by competitors who aren’t,” Obama wrote. On Tuesday, [the Department of Labor shared its proposed changes (opens in a new tab)](http://www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/NPRM2015/OT-NPRM.pdf) to the Fair Labor Standards Act. The department also recommends “updating the salary level to prevent the level from becoming outdated with the often lengthy passage of time between rulemakings.” > This proposal isn’t a law but it certainly reflects one—the law of unintended consequences at a time when the economy and those struggling the most can least afford it. The plan came [on the heels of last week’s significant Supreme Court victory](http://associationsnow.com/2015/06/supreme-courts-june-rulings-drive-massive-association-responses/) on healthcare—something Obama highlighted in the very first sentence of his post. Like the healthcare news, the topic of overtime was not met warmly by key business groups. “This proposal isn’t a law but it certainly reflects one—the law of unintended consequences at a time when the economy and those struggling the most can least afford it,” National Retail Federation Senior Vice President for Government Relations David French [said in a statement (opens in a new tab)](https://nrf.com/media/press-releases/obama-overtime-proposal-would-erode-pathway-careers) . “Our research shows that the managers who would supposedly benefit oppose this plan and that few workers would actually see more take-home pay. There simply isn’t any magic pot of money that lets employers pay more just because the government says so.” Angelo Amador, the National Restaurant Association’s senior vice president of labor and workforce policy and regulatory counsel, agreed. “While we are still reviewing the Department of Labor’s proposed overtime regulations, at first sign, it seems as if these proposed rules have the potential to radically change industry standards and negatively impact our workforce,” [Amador said in a statement on the rule changes (opens in a new tab)](http://www.restaurant.org/News-Research/News/Department-of-Labor-proposes-overtime-revisions) . [In comments to Politico (opens in a new tab)](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/obama-overtime-rule-wage-raise-119566.html?hp=t4_r) , the U.S. Chamber of Commerce called the strategy “another example of the administration being completely divorced from reality and adding more burdens to employers and expecting them to just absorb the impact.” The moves, however, received a warmer response from labor unions, which have traditionally supported an expansion. In a statement, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka [said that the union (opens in a new tab)](http://www.aflcio.org/Press-Room/Press-Releases/President-Richard-Trumka-Applauds-Overtime-Expansion-Proposal) “will continue fighting until every worker who deserves overtime protections is paid for all their time worked.” (via the White House Flickr page) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Tags: [#Business](https://associationsnow.com/tag/business/) [#IT Policy](https://associationsnow.com/tag/it-policy/) [#labor rights](https://associationsnow.com/tag/labor-rights/) [#mandatory overtime](https://associationsnow.com/tag/mandatory-overtime/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [VideoThe Career Moves Every Association Leader Needs Right NowSeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/the-career-moves-every-association-leader-needs-right-now/) - [VideoUrban Land Institute- Project Recovery: Rebuilding Los Angeles After the January 2025 WildfiresSeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/urban-land-institute-project-recovery-rebuilding-los-angeles-after-the-january-2025-wildfires/) - [VideoNCRA: Safeguarding Cancer Surveillance: An Advocacy Response to FY26 Budget ThreatsSeptember 24, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/09/24/ncra-safeguarding-cancer-surveillance-an-advocacy-response-to-fy26-budget-threats/) - [VideoASAE Legislative Summit 2026March 26, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/03/26/asae-legislative-summit-2026/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2015%2F06%2F30%2Fobama-overtime-plan-draws-frosty-association-response%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !