Lawsuit challenges Biden-Harris labor laws threatening Christian schools

Should Christian schools be forced by the government to pay teachers overtime?

It’s possible if a new rule issued by the Biden-Harris administration is allowed to stand, but the country’s largest association of Christian schools is suing, fighting for schools’ freedom to determine their own policies.

The new overtime rule would reclassify 4.3 million salaried workers nationwide, making them eligible for overtime. The change affected some workers on July 1 and would include more on January 1, impacting businesses, non-profits and Christian schools.

The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), which represents 2,500 member institutions in the U.S., is opposing the rule because it could imperil many of its schools’ already tight budgets.

“One of the biggest challenges for smaller private schools and the reason many of them have to close their doors is finances,” explains a press release from the Beacon Center of Tennessee, which filed the suit on behalf of ACSI. “This new rule puts an even heavier financial burden on those schools. To pay for these unforeseen expenses, the schools will have to make budget cuts that could affect their ability to provide the best education for their students.” 

The lawsuit contends that two parts of the rule are illegal: the use of salary to determine if an employee is “white collar” or “exempt” from overtime, and automatic increases in that salary threshold.  

The state of Texas sued to block the rule and was successful in June. Business groups have also sued and are hoping for a widespread block on its implementation. 

Right now, employees don’t earn overtime for working more than 40 hours a week if they work in “a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity,” according to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). There was an exception if their salary was less than $35,000, but that amount rose to about $44,000 in July and would jump to $58,000 in January.  

That new threshold would hit Christian schools hard, possibly forcing them to cut staff, limit teacher hours and deal with budget uncertainty halfway through the school year. 

The rule could especially affect the many smaller ACSI schools.  

The lawsuit, which was filed in the Washington, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, also argues the overtime rule violates the separation of powers principle, since Congress did not give the Department of Labor authority to use salary as the basis of whether an employee is “exempt” from overtime or not. 

“The DOL’s new salary increase all but eliminates the focus on the duties of the employee in violation of the clear text of the FLSA,” the Beacon Center says. Automatic increases of the salary level every three years goes against previous labor department practice of giving notice and soliciting objections before making any changes.

Wen Fa, one of the attorneys on the case, says the matter could end up in the Supreme Court, which has ruled against recent Federal agency overreaches in matters such as student loan forgiveness and Covid vaccine mandates.

“In 2016, the Department of Labor tried something very similar, an increase that was around the same size percentage wise, and that was held to be unlawful by District Court and was ultimately repealed with the change in presidential administration,” Fa told The Lion. “All the problems that the court mentioned in that case, I think there are similar problems in this case.”

Fa is hopeful for a judgement before Jan. 1, to spare schools from the excessive salary hike.

“I think there are many reasons why this rule is illegal and also many reasons why this rule is harmful for employers like small businesses and like the non profits including ACSI, who we represent,” he said.