FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Matthew Haller, 202-662-0770
Jenna Weisbord, 202-662-0766
mhaller@franchise.org
jweisbord@franchise.org
IFA ISSUES STATEMENT ON PROPOSED OVERTIME REGULATIONS
WASHINGTON, June 20, 2014 —International Franchise Association President & CEO Steve Caldeira, CFE, released the following statement regarding legislation introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) to alter existing wage and duties tests for determining overtime exemptions. S. 2486, the Restoring Overtime Pay for Working Americans Act, would raise the wage floor for overtime exemption from $455 per week to $1,090 per week and require overtime-exempt employees not spend more than 50 percent of his or her work hours performing tasks and duties are not covered by exemption rules.
“This bill would upend the workforce structure used by franchise small businesses across America. Doubling the wage floor for overtime exemption will cause a spike in costs for employers and impose unrealistic restrictions on the work that can be performed by managers and the “all-hands-on-deck” entrepreneurial approach to labor management that fosters teamwork and promotes operational excellence. This proposal will simultaneously increase costs and decrease productivity in our nation’s independently-owned franchise small businesses, an unacceptable consequence of an ill-conceived workforce policy.”
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About the International Franchise Association
The International Franchise Association is the world’s oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. Celebrating over 50 years of excellence, education and advocacy, IFA works through its government relations and public policy, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising. Through its media awareness campaign highlighting the theme, Franchising: Building Local Businesses, One Opportunity at a Time, IFA promotes the economic impact of the more than 825,000 franchise establishments, which support nearly 18 million jobs and $2.1 trillion of economic output for the U.S. economy. IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law and business development.
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