Contact: Bernadette Green, (202) 225-2476
(Washington, D.C.) — Congressman Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah) today questioned human resource professionals, labor policy experts and business owners about federal wages and the overtime rule during an Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Workforce Protections hearing.
Excerpts of Grothman’s remarks:
“Why don’t we talk more about the overtime rule – the cause of workers who were previously exempt from overtime to be included in overtime. I always like to repeat a story of a buddy of mine back home whose daughter got a job, probably earning under this amount. He told her always be the first one to go to work in the morning and the last one to go home at night, be a hard worker and you’re going to move up. And she was a hard worker and moved up. What impact would this have on your business, or the businesses that you advise, I guess – if some employee wanted to work extra hard and go all out?
“It’s a practical matter you get in trouble with your boss for working hard, don’t you? If you define working as putting in another half hour at the end of the day, or hour at the end of the day you get in trouble with your boss because they have to pay you, right?
“What would you do if you’re an employee and it’s 5:00 p.m. and you’d like to spiff this up a little more, do a little bit of work? [Would] you turn in the report which you don’t think is adequate at 5:00, or hang around until 5:30 p.m. and deal with your boss because they don’t want to pay for a half hour of overtime? What would you do in that situation?
“Any suggestions or changes to the wage and hour policy?
“This is a more sensitive question. Are any of you familiar with the E01 (affirmative action) form?
“To make things turn out right on that form, do you advise people about who should be hired or promoted?
“Does it ever change who is hired or promoted because you want numbers to work out right on that form?
“Is it a fact that you know you have two people applying for a job or three people applying for a job, you may pick someone different than who you would have otherwise?
Click here to watch Congressman Grothman’s full remarks.
