Overtime regulations just got an overhaul. New tools are available to recruit, assess and train service technicians. And the great American road trip is cool again. These are petroleum industry headlines from the U.S.
New Overtime Regulations
On May 18, U.S. President Barack Obama and Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez announced the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) final rule that updates overtime regulations. The rule will extend overtime pay protections to more than 4 million workers within the first year of implementation. The result is many workers will get paid more. And that means fuels industry employers must change the salary and compensation levels needed for executive, administrative and professional workers to be exempt.
The final rule:
- Sets the standard salary level at the 40th percentile of earnings of full-time, salaried workers in the lowest-wage census region, currently the South (US$913 (623 pounds/817 euros) per week; $47,476 annually for a full-year worker);
- Sets the total annual compensation requirement for highly compensated employees subject to a minimal duties test to the annual equivalent of the 90th percentile of full-time salaried workers nationally ($134,004); and
- Establishes a mechanism for automatically updating the salary and compensation levels every three years to maintain the levels at the above percentiles and to ensure that they continue to provide useful and effective tests for exemption.
In addition, the final rule amends the salary basis test. Employers will be able to use nondiscretionary bonuses and incentive payments (including commissions) to satisfy up to 10 percent of the new standard salary level. The final rule will become effect Dec.
1. The initial increases to the standard salary level (from $455 to $913 per week) and highly compensated employees total annual compensation requirement (from $100,000 to $134,004) will be effective then. Future automatic updates to those thresholds will occur every three years, beginning Jan. 1, 2020.
PEI Helps Recruit, Assess, Train Entry-Level Service Techs
The Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI) in May released two new tools to help the fuel and fluid handling equipment industry recruit, assess and train new service technicians. Although the tools reference U.S. laws and regulations, the need for recruitment, assessment and training of new service technicians crosses international borders.
“A fuel pump is a fuel pump whether you’re in the U.S., U.K., or elsewhere, and generally we’re finding that these new tools are applicable to the industry throughout the world,” said Robert N. Renkes, executive vice president of PEI. The tool expected to be most globally applicable is “The Entry-Level Service Technician Training Course,” which targets new hires within their first few months on the job. Renkes suggests companies outside the U.S. could use the 52-page manual to augment their existing new service technician training. The copyrighted manual is available for purchase online.
A separate, 50-question test of the material may be accessed as part of PEI’s annual online test subscription at no additional charge, or as an individual-basis purchase. PEI members also may use three, free recruitment videos to attract service technician candidates. Each 90-second video shadows a real technician as he services petroleum equipment and talks about his long-term career opportunities. “Companies abroad might even find more value in watching the recruitment videos to gain hiring ideas than they would by broadcasting the videos because of language or cultural barriers,” Renkes said. “Either way, we’re happy to share a U.S. strategy to transcend the service technician shortage.”
PEI member companies are welcome to post the videos on their websites or use them as paid placement ads on YouTube. A PEI webinar that outlines uses of the videos will be available soon. Details will be available on the PEI website. To educate the general public, too, PEI has made the videos available in a separate playlist on the PEI YouTube channel. A third tool, expected in July, is an industry-specific skills aptitude test for service technician job applicants. The online test, designed by a professional testing organization, will measure the range of abilities, talents and proficiencies that service technicians must have to succeed. The training course, test and videos are available at www.pei.org/careers.
AAA: Great American Road Trip is Back
Thanks to the lowest gas prices in more than a decade and a strong U.S. labor force, some 38 million Americans made this Memorial Day weekend the second-most travelled on record, according to AAA. The annual holiday marks the beginning of summer for Americans. The Memorial Day travel period was Thursday, May 26 to Monday, May 30.
AAA estimates that:
- About 700,000 more people travelled during the 2016 holiday weekend than during the 2015 period.
- Americans have saved more than $15 billion on gas this year compared with 2015.
- Gas prices are the lowest in 11 years.
Of all Memorial Day travellers, nearly 89% drove, according to AAA. In addition, 55% of Americans surveyed said lower gas prices are enticing them toward a road trip this year.
Kristen Wright is managing editor of the PEI Journal. Reach her at kwright@pei.com. The Petroleum Equipment Institute is a trade association whose more than 1,600 member companies in 80-plus countries manufacture, distribute and service petroleum marketing and liquid handling equipment.
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