Today, Workforce Protections Subcommittee Chairman Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) delivered the following statement, as prepared for delivery, at a hearing titled "The Future of Wage Laws: Assessing the FLSA's Effectiveness, Challenges, and Opportunities":
"Good morning. Today we are here to examine critical reforms to modernize labor law, bringing more clarity to both workers and employers. At today’s hearing we will discuss what I hope is a bipartisan goal of bringing an important federal statute into the 21st century.
"To this day, the Fair Labor Standards Act is the foundation of U.S. wage-and-hour laws. It was enacted during the New Deal Era to set the baseline for minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping, and other federal requirements enforced by Department of Labor (DOL). Needless to say, the workforce has changed since 1938. It is long overdue for Congress to update this 87-year-old law so workers and businesses have the best opportunities to succeed.
"During the Biden-Harris administration, we saw DOL strongarm workplaces into complying with burdensome rules and regulations that stifled innovation and set arbitrary standards, some of which even violated the Administrative Procedure Act, the cornerstone governing how federal agencies issue regulations.
"For instance, the Biden-Harris administration’s unlawful overtime rule attempted to raise the salary threshold to be considered an exempt employee under the FLSA by a whopping 65 percent, with automatic increases every...
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