Several Lawrence employment specialists said Monday most area workers were at little risk of losing their overtime benefits as a result of new federal regulations.

“We’re trying to tell our clients not to lose a lot of sleep over it,” said Randy Renfro, an accountant with Lawrence-based Roark & Associates.

He said his firm had received inquiries from about 10 businesses wanting to know how the regulations, which began Monday, would affect them.

Renfro said professionals who were paid by the hour were at greater risk of losing overtime than those who were paid a salary. But, he said, just because a company can eliminate overtime benefits doesn’t mean they have to.

For example, he said the new rules probably would allow his company to eliminate overtime pay for some tax preparers who work extra hours during the tax season. He said it was unlikely the company would make such a move, though, in part because it could make it more difficult to hire good employees.

“I would imagine that most people are not going to take away overtime from people who have received it in the past,” Renfro said.

Several other accountants in Lawrence declined to answer questions about the rules, saying they were still trying to determine their potential effect.

Renfro agreed the regulations had the potential to muddy the waters of employment law.

“I don’t think it is a good piece of legislation,” Renfro said. “Nobody is explaining it very well.”

Deborah Thompson, vice president of human resources at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, said she didn’t think the new rules would allow companies to make many changes. She reviewed how the rules affected all 1,100 employees at the hospital and determined there would be no loss of overtime.

“I know the issue is a real political hot potato, but I’m trying to figure out why,” Thompson said. “As a human resource professional, I just don’t see where there’s much of a shift in policy.”

She said she thought the people most at risk to lose overtime protection were highly paid IT professionals that received hourly wages but had annual compensation of more than $100,000 per year.