Your April 23 editorial “Bringing certainty to overtime” was informative, insightful and right on the mark with regard to employers outside the State of Illinois. Unfortunately, for Illinois employers the story is quite different.
You correctly applaud the U.S. Department of Labor for its efforts “to update cumbersome federal overtime regulations last overhauled when Harry Truman was in the White House.”
You also are absolutely right that the “overhaul is long overdue.”
As to employers in Illinois, however, your assertion that these new regulations “will, finally, provide some certainty on this issue,” is regrettably incorrect. As a result of amendments to the Illinois minimum-wage law (which governs overtime pay as well), which were quietly rushed through the General Assembly and signed into law by the governor on April 2, Illinois employers will be governed by two totally different and conflicting legal standards. This new state law effectively reimposes the 50-year-old, totally outdated, federal overtime regulations on all Illinois employers. As a result, instead of benefiting from the clarity and common sense offered by the new federal overtime standards, Illinois employers will be saddled with the burden of complying with two vastly different sets of rules for determining the overtime eligibility of employees.
Not only will this wrong-headed Illinois law lead to confusion among employers and employees, it probably will result in more lawsuits related to overtime. It is yet another example of regressive measures being taken by an administration set on a course that will seriously undermine the business-friendly climate of our state.
