Labor Department won't extend comment period on manager pay hike proposal

The National Retail Federation will not get its wish to extend the comment period for the U.S. Labor Department's proposal to more than double the minimum salary that employers must pay managers and other professional employees.

The trade group in July asked the Labor Department to move the deadline, which is tomorrow, to Nov. 3. So did the head of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce, Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.).

But in a letter to Kline, the department said, "A 60-day comment period provides sufficient time for interested parties to submit substantial comment."

The retail group noted the decision in a news release this week and warned that the "flawed proposal" would cost the restaurant and retail industries $8.4 billion alone in additional wages.

Under the proposal, the minimum salary for employees who are exempt from overtime would jump to $970 a week from $455, the benchmark's first increase since 2004. Even exempt employees in New York State, where the white-collar salary threshold is $656.25 a week, would receive an increase.

A final rule could take effect next year.