Federal Injunctions Halts New Overtime Regulations

Right before the Thanksgiving holiday, a judge in Texas ordered an injunction on a federal overtime rule change that would have had a major impact on all franchise concepts, especially those within the restaurant industry.

According to an article on FastCasual.com , the rule, which would have went into effect on December 1 , would have meant that businesses would have to pay time-and-a-half to employees working more than 40 hours a week and earning less than $47,476 a year.

So, while many corporate executives were thankful for the injunction, many had started to put plans in place to contend with the initial December 1 deadline, including growing Wisconsin-based better pizza franchise Toppers Pizza .

"The government has to get out of the regulation business. You can't regulate businesses to profitability. This overtime regulation is really blowing up the model we had in place that was successful for our franchisees, and gave real opportunity to entry-level team members who were dedicated and hard working," Kendall Richmond, CFO of Toppers Pizza , told Fast Casual.

"Those people who come into our system and want to be a go-getter and want to do more, and show more, can't under this regulation. I have staff who work flexible hours now, but we have to take that away because of the regulation. I don't think it would have been as bad if they didn't make the regulation so much so quickly. This could have been a slower, more measured roll out, with more specific considerations paid to the differences in industries and geographic locations."

Businesses across the franchise community with wait to see if the overtime rule change is overturned as Donald Trump takes office in 2017.

Brian Jaeger is a Vice President of Media Relations at No Limit Agency. Brian joined No Limit Agency after seven years working for local television news stations in Florida, four years at WCJB in Gainesville and three years at Bay News 9, the 24-hour local news station in the Tampa Bay area. Brian is a graduate of the University of Florida, where he studied journalism and telecommunications.

He brings a journalist’s viewpoint to the public relations field, and when he’s not busy telling the stories of No Limit Agency's brands, you can find him writing, on a karaoke stage, or cheering on the Gators.