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Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
U.S. Secretary of
Labor Elaine L. Chao
Florida Community College at Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida
Monday, May 3, 2004
Thank you so much, Dr. Wallace [Steven Wallace, President, FCCJ],
for that warm introduction.
And I want to thank you-and Dr. Darby [Barbara Darby, Campus
President, North Campus, FCCJ]-for hosting us, and for giving us a tour of
the superb teaching labs here at Jacksonville. Community colleges like this one
are leading the way in training workers for the rewarding career opportunities
available in the rapidly growing health-care industry.
And I'd also like to welcome Kevell Moore and Stacey Townsend, two
nursing students who are with us as well.
I'm here today to highlight what this Administration is doing to
strengthen overtime pay protection for America's nurses.
Last week, the Labor Department issued new rules that will strengthen
and guarantee overtime for more workers than ever before-an unprecedented 6.7
million additional workers.
This new rule dramatically increases the number of workers who will be
guaranteed overtime. And chief among those who will gain overtime protection
are nurses.
For the first time in history, the Department of Labor's new Overtime
Security rule expressly states that licensed practical nurses are entitled to
overtime. And it makes clear that registered nurses (RNs) who currently receive
overtime will continue to receive overtime when the new rules take effect.
The Labor Department issued these new rules because the overtime
regulations have not been substantially updated since 1949. Since then the
profession of nursing has changed, but unfortunately, employment law has not
changed with it.
Under the existing rules, the right to overtime for licensed practical
nurses is ambiguous. Many health-care workers are forced to hire lawyers and go
to court to find out if they are eligible for overtime.
The new rule announced last week updates and clarifies the current
regulations, so that America's nurses can spend their time healing-not having
to hire lawyers to resort to lengthy court battles. By reducing the number of
unnecessary lawsuits, resources that were absorbed by these lawsuits can be
better tapped to create more nursing jobs.
Let me briefly summarize what the new rule means to workers. It says
that:
- Everyone who is paid by the hour is entitled to overtime.
- All blue-collar and manual laborers are entitled to overtime.
- All salaried workers earning less than $23,660 annually are entitled
to overtime-period-regardless of job title or duties.
- And if you are a salaried worker earning more than $23,660 annually,
your employer must pay you overtime unless you perform executive,
administrative or professional duties.
These rules mean more overtime for nurses right here in Jacksonville,
and for many other workers as well.
Today, our country faces a significant shortage of nurses. We will need
more than 1 million registered nurses alone in the next 7 years. This gives
nurses tremendous clout and many registered nurses have leveraged this market
power to gain overtime. I want to make it clear, again, that this new rule does
not change their status.
This administration understands that nurses are the bedrock of the
health-care profession. They have answered the call to care and now we want to
be there for them.
Now, I'd like to ask Kevell to say a few words.
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