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NAFCU Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt yesterday urged House leaders to support legislation delaying the Labor Department's overtime rule so businesses will have more time to comply.

H.R. 6094, the "Regulatory Relief for Small Businesses, Schools, and Nonprofits Act," would delay the current rule's implementation deadline of Dec. 1, pushing it to June 1, 2017.

"NAFCU remains concerned that the DOL's proposal fails to adequately meet the needs of small and not-for-profit businesses, such as credit unions," Hunt wrote in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "Most small to midsized community-driven credit unions do not have the ability to comply with such a large compensation increase by the time the new DOL rule goes into effect without facing a significant burden."

The Labor Department finalized the overtime rule in May. The rule raises from $23,660 to $47,476 the maximum salary for employees eligible for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

While NAFCU believes all American workers should be granted access to fair pay, the association has raised concerns that the rule fails to adequately consider geographic salary differences or provide exemptions for non-salary-based employee advancement opportunities, such as travel time for conferences or training opportunities.