House Speaker Paul Ryan said the Obama administration’s labor policy agenda is having a “chilling effect” on the economy so it is urgent that Republicans act to counter those policies.
“We, as the alternative party, are going to step up and be an alternative party, be a proposition party and show the country what a real growth agenda looks like. Because the policies that have been pursued by this administration, specifically these regulatory policies: the fiduciary rule, overtime rule, joint employer — and that’s just one from agency. These are putting a chilling effect on growth. These are compromising businesses. We have to break this logjam with a cleansing, clearing election,” the Wisconsin Republican told reporters Thursday.
The agency that Ryan was referring to is the Labor Department, which under Secretary Tom Perez has implemented a new rule intended to force businesses to pay more overtime by limiting the number of employees who can be exempted from the requirement. Perez also has announced that the agency will crack down on conflicts of interest in retirement financial advising by increasing brokers’ legal liability. In January, the department also issued a new interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act that said that an employer can be liable for paying lost wages to another company’s workers if the department determines that the company has “indirect” control over the workers.
Business trade associations have cried foul over the rules, and Republican lawmakers have called for rolling them back. Ryan’s comments Thursday suggest that doing so will be part of the House GOP agenda in the coming months.
A spokesman for the Labor Department could not be reached for comment.
