The National Restaurant Association issued a statement of support for the House introduction of the Regulatory Relief for Small Businesses, Schools, and Nonprofits Act (H.R. 6094), by Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI). The bipartisan legislation will allow a six-month delay in the effective date of the Department of Labor’s overtime rule.

“We thank Congressman Walberg for his continued leadership on this bipartisan effort to bring much needed relief to America’s one million restaurants. Restaurants operate on extremely thin margins with low profits per employee and little room to absorb added costs. The Department of Labor’s overtime overhaul will force many Main Street businesses to make hard decisions. A delay in implementation will help employers learn how to comply and carefully adjust for impact. We urge Congress to move this legislation forward,” says Cicely Simpson, EVP of policy and government affairs for the National Restaurant Association

"Our members are scrambling to reorganize their workforce and implement costly new reporting systems to meet the unrealistic December 1 deadline. We appreciate Congressman Walberg's leadership to provide some breathing room on a particularly onerous regulation to the restaurant industry,"adds Justin Winslow, president and CEO of the Michigan Restaurant Association

“We’re thankful to Congressman Walberg for standing with small business and providing us much needed relief. While the Department of Labor claims this rule will modernize overtime regulations, in reality it does anything but. We take pride in the fact that many of our managers and executives start their careers in non-managerial positions and move up quickly with new, performance-based incentives. DOL’s regulations will strip away that mobility by forcing us to move our salaried employees back to hourly. Regulatory burdens are no way to help America’s restaurants continue to provide countless opportunity to millions of Americans. We ask that Congress listen to small business and act quickly,” says Brian Carmody, JK & T Wings, Inc. and Subsidiaries, Shelby Township, Michigan.

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