Today’s oral testimony by small-business group requests more time
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tony Gagliardi, Colorado State Director, [email protected],
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, [email protected]
DENVER, May 15, 2020—The state director for Colorado’s leading small-business association today provided oral testimony before the state’s Division of Labor Standards and Statistics that it should delay consideration of its proposed amendments to the Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Rules, the Wage Protection Act, and the Direct Investigation Rules.
“These are not normal times,” said Tony Gagliardi, Colorado state director for NFIB. “Business owners already face a multitude of factors which will impact the prospect for survival such as the continuing health and safety factors of the COVID-19 pandemic, the various closure orders around the state of Colorado, and other issues, such as getting employees to return to work, and most recently, an unemployment trust fund which will become insolvent in the very near future.”
Gagliardi requested an extended comment period so a larger stakeholder group could ascertain just how the Division’s rule change will affect them.
“The first notice of the proposed rule was issued on April 15, 2020,” Gagliardi pointed out. “At that time, the Colorado business community was facing the first of many executive orders concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. Great uncertainty for business owners dominated their every thought. Questions such as would their business be forced to close, would their business be classified as an essential business, and, what would become of their employees should the business be forced to close.
“It is the opinion of NFIB the new rule will have the following impacts on our members:
- “It will discourage larger firms from working with smaller firms
- “It will upend legitimate franchising arrangements
- “It does not make sense to hold Business A liable for Business B’s mistake if Business A was not actively controlling Business B’s employees. The federal government nicely clarified the matter recently. It would be nice in the state cleaved to that.”
It is the intention of NFIB Colorado to file more substantive written comments during the comment period.
Keep up with the latest Colorado small-business news at www.nfib.com/colorado or by following NFIB on Twitter @NFIB_CO or on Facebook @NFIB.CO
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NFIB is the voice of small business, advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit www.nfib.com/Colorado.
NFIB Colorado
1700 Lincoln Street, 17th Floor
Denver, CO 80203
303-860-1778
www.nfib.com/colorado
Twitter: @NFIB_CO
Facebook: NFIB.CO
