Several groups are asking the U.S. Department of Labor to axe a proposal to expand the number of workers eligible for overtime, saying the change would hurt more than it would help.

The proposed change would allow people making up to $970 a week to receive overtime pay automatically for working more than 40 hours. The current cutoff is $455.

National Retail Federation CEO Matt Shay said the higher level would cover two-thirds of all retail employees, and that is "simply too high a level for the low-margin retail industry to bear without severe repercussions."

Shay also asked DOL to reject a provision of the proposal that would automatically increase the qualifying salary level each year, saying past policy of updating it only when needed "has worked well and there is no need to break with this practice."

The National Association of Federal Credit Unions argued the proposal takes a "one-size-fits-all" approach that doesn't address the economic difference in geographic pay scales.

"It is economically imprudent to require employers based in Huron, S.D., to have the same covered-employee salary level as an employer based in San Francisco, Calif.," Kavitha Subramanian, NAFCU's regulatory affairs counsel, wrote in a letter to DOL.

The National Automatic Merchandising Association urged its members to write to DOL, which is accepting comments on the proposed changes until midnight, Sept. 4. The group provided a form letter that members could use instead of writing their own.

"The financial impact created by this proposed rule increases both salary and expenses with no return on investment (ROI) to my business," the letter stated. "These new costs would likely be borne directly by business in the form of lower revenue, employees in the form of lower salaries, and consumers in the form of higher prices for goods they purchase from our company."

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