Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Rules will have little effect on local payrolls, officials say

Many Southern Nevada employers were still trying to figure out the impact of overtime changes that took effect Monday although they generally aren't expecting major payroll changes because of the new rules.

Under the new rules, workers will collect overtime pay if they make less than $23,660 yearly and work more than 40 hours a week. But white-collar workers earning $100,000 or more in a year will now be exempt from federal overtime rules.

"We really don't know what the impact is going to be, because the estimates are way out of whack," said Mary Beth Hartleb, president of the Southern Nevada Human Resources Association. She cited election-year partisan controversy as a reason for the widely differing findings by analysts.

"It could have a negative impact on the economy," she said. "It could cost businesses more."

Another representative of a major trade association is optimistic there will be little impact.

"We believe that it will be much the same for the industry," said Irene Porter, executive director of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association. "We are studying the issue and have not made a determination of the effect on the industry yet."

At least one casino operator, Harrah's Entertainment, anticipates the new rules will have little effect on the company or many of its 48,000 employees nationally.

"We feel like we've adequately assessed the situation and do not see it as having a significant impact on our business," said Jerry Boone, senior vice president of human resources. "Our positions are classified in line with the new criteria."

Registered nurses will no longer be entitled to overtime pay under the new law, but the shortage of nurses may cause many hospitals to keep paying overtime anyway.

North Vista Hospital (formerly Lake Mead Hospital) will continue to pay overtime, human resources director Leanna Nalley said. The private hospital employs 200 registered nurses, including some who work part time or work only temporary assignments on a daily basis.

"You can always be more lenient than the law (in paying overtime)," Nalley said.

The average nurse in urban areas of the state makes $27.32 an hour, a survey by the Nevada Hospital Association shows.

Retailers are among the business segments expected to be the most affected by the rule change.

"Our industry is going to have to pay overtime to a lot more employees than in the past," National Retail Federation Vice President J. Craig Shearman said.

Most affected will be retail stores in small cities with depressed economies where managers make less than $23,660, he said.

If a manager makes more than that but less than $100,000, that person must meet three criteria to be exempt from federal overtime rules: his primary job must be management; he must manage two or more workers; and he must have a say in firing and hiring.

Although retailers may see their payrolls rise because of additional overtime pay, they may also find more customers spending more in their stores as a result of the rule changes, said Shearman, who welcomed the change.

"The old rule had not been updated since Elvis was a teenager in 1954," Shearman said, referring to rock 'n' roll legend Elvis Presley.

Cristeena Naser, senior counsel to the American Bankers Association, said: "(The new rules) make it very easy to determine who's eligible and who is not eligible. It's very clear. It goes by duties and not by what you call people. What we're looking forward to is a lot less litigation (over overtime pay claims)."

BankAmerica Corp., which operates in Nevada and ranks second in size to only Citigroup among U.S. bank holding companies, expects none of its 177,000 workers to lose overtime compensation.

"No associate is going lose any compensation because of the rule changes," said Shirley Norton, BankAmerica spokeswoman. "We don't think the impact is going to be very large," Norton said.

At the Review-Journal, only a few of the 850 employees are affected by the new federal overtime rules, human resources director Jim Hannah said.

A major Southern Nevada utility also expected little change.

"Southwest Gas is really impacted only minimally by this law," said Roger Buehrer, a company spokesman. "We have provisions for overtime, and our wages are such that they are above the minimum as described by the law," he added.

The Nevada labor commissioner's office has received numerous calls for information on the new rules but has referred callers to the federal government.

"It doesn't affect Nevada law and, at this point in time, we are not going to make any changes in Nevada law," said Amanda Getzoff, a spokeswoman for the state labor commissioners' office.

Human resource managers are trying to be diplomatic in communicating with affected workers. Some managers who are now eligible for overtime time may feel they are being demoted, for example, Hartleb said.

Regardless of the rule change, "I feel that people that work overtime should be paid for overtime," said Jaki Baskow of Baskow and Associates, a special events company.