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Overtime pay impact will be a negative one, claim industry watchers

May 24, 2016

Analysts expect the new overtime pay rules to hit the retail industry hard, and some retailers will be hit harder than others.

The worst hit will be retailers with a big number of small stores in low-cost markets as employee pay expectations will now be the same as in bigger and active locations, according to a CNBC report. Those hit hardest will be discount and dollar stores as well as local convenience stores.

Analysts expect retailers to make changes to lessen the impact, including adjusting full-time jobs to part-time positions.

"In the retail sector alone, hundreds of thousands of career professionals will lose their status as salaried employees and find themselves reclassified as hourly workers," David French, NRF's senior VP for government relations, said in a statement, according to CNBC.

"The one-size-fits-all approach means businesses trying to make ends meet in small towns across America are now expected to pay the same salaries as those in New York City."