By Kerby Anderson

A new rule implemented by President Obama’s Labor Department will make it harder for salaried workers who want some level of job flexibility. It is hard enough to juggle work and family life. This rule will make it even harder.

The government raised its overtime “threshold” test for salaried employees so that they can qualify for overtime. Their employers must pay time and a half when they work more than 40 hours a week. On its face, this seems like a good idea until you look into the facts and realize that IBM tried something similar, and it didn’t work.

The regulation won’t increase the earnings of these employees, but it will certainly reduce their control over their schedules. Salaried workers are paid for a particular job, not for particular hours. This gives them the ability to leave work early to attend a child’s game or school event and finish their work after their child has gone to bed. This regulation will limit such job flexibility.

A few years ago IBM reclassified 7,000 salaried workers as eligible for overtime pay because of a settlement in a lawsuit. In order to do this, they cut the base pay by 15 percent. In the end, it had negligible effect on the pay these workers received.

This regulation will increase work for both employers and employees. The employees will have to carefully log hours. The employer must track their activities to see who qualifies for overtime. Some employers are less likely to allow these employees to work from home because of the legal risk.

At a time when more and more workers want and need job flexibility, this regulation takes them in the opposite direction. Past experience suggests that they won’t get more income. They will get less control over their lives. Juggling work and family are hard enough. This new Labor Department regulation will make that even more difficult.