QSR Magazine: Overtime Will Be Next Target in the Ongoing Labor Battle

Until recently, much of the restaurant industry’s employment news focused on minimum wage laws and the push for $15-an-hour pay.

But the latest employment heat riling up the restaurant industry primarily affects lower-level managers who work overtime. The issue came to a head last month when the Department of Labor updated overtime regulations with new salary and compensation levels that will impact restaurants coast to coast.

The new rule vastly expands eligibility for overtime pay to those earning $47,476 or less annually. Previously, only those earning less than $24,000 were eligible for overtime.

The change could come at a steep cost to restaurant owners. Before the new rule takes effect December 1, operators nationwide might be forced to decide whether their salaried managers will receive modest pay boosts so that they can remain exempt, or if they will be asked to become hourly workers.