IFA Files Lawsuit Challenging Obama Administration™s Overtime Rule

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Contact:

Matthew Haller, 202-662-0770

Jenna Weisbord, 202-662-0766

mhaller@franchise.org

jweisbord@franchise.org

@franchising411


IFA Files Lawsuit Challenging Obama Administration’s Overtime Rule


WASHINGTON, Sept. 20—International Franchise Association along with a broad coalition including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Texas Association of Business, National Automobile Dealers Association, the National Association of Manufacturers and more than 50 other national and Texas business groups, filed a legal challenge to the Obama administration’s overtime rule, arguing that Department of Labor (DOL) exceeded its statutory authority in issuing the regulation and violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The DOL’s rule is currently slated to take effect December 1.


“This law upends the workforce structure used by franchise small businesses across America. Doubling the wage floor for the 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,” said IFA President & CEO Robert Cresanti, CFE. “The franchise business model is a proven job creator and career builder, but when you increase labor costs, small business owners will have no choice but to find savings elsewhere to make-up the difference. This proposed rule will ultimately force many employers to eliminate jobs and raise prices.”


The IFA has taken a leadership role in staunchly opposing the Labor Department’s extreme overtime rule. The IFA has worked with Democrats and Republicans to improve the regulation’s impact on franchise businesses, specifically collaborating with U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and U.S. Representatives Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Kurt Schrader (D-OR) to revise or delay the regulation. Furthermore, the IFA joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in filing a September 2016 lawsuit challenging the overtime rule in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. 


The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.


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About the International Franchise Association

Celebrating 56 years of excellence, education and advocacy, the International Franchise Association is the world’s oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. IFA works through its government relations and public policy, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising and the more than 733,000 franchise establishments that support nearly 7.6 million direct jobs, $674.3 billion of economic output for the U.S. economy and 2.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law, technology and business development.

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