More than one million additional American workers would become eligible for overtime pay if the U.S. Department of Labor adopts a proposed new rule.
Employees earning up to $679 per week would qualify for overtime pay for working more than 40 hours in a week, according to the proposal announced March 7 by the department’s Wage and Hour Division. Currently, workers who earn $455 or more per week can be exempted from overtime pay, depending on their job duties. The $455 level was established in 2004. The proposed new threshold of $679 per week is equivalent to $35,308 in annual salary.
The department issued a request for information on this issue in 2017, receiving more than 200,000 comments before developing its current proposal. More information can be found here. The department’s Overtime Pay web page is here.
The proposed change would not affect Californian employers and workers. Under state law, employees earning up to $49,920 are eligible for overtime pay.
