NEW YORK, NEW YORK — The U.S. Department of Labor has recently proposed a new rule that would raise the salary threshold for workers who work more than 40 hours a week and are eligible for overtime. If this is approved, it would mean an additional 3.6 million workers in the U.S. would receive time-and-a-half after 40 hours.
Attorney Steven Mitchell Sack, “The Employee’s Lawyer®,” author of his latest book “FIRED! Protect Your Rights & FIGHT BACK If You’re Terminated, Laid Off, Downsized, Restructured, Forced to Resign or Quit,” and host of the podcast “Know Your Job Rights with Attorney Steven Sack,” says the Labor Department’s proposed rule would help those employees improve their way of life and bring some self-worth to themselves.
On August 30, the Labor Department issued a proposed rule that would raise the salary threshold to $55,068 annually — an increase of 54.8%. The proposed threshold is approximately $2,000 a year below the median national salary of $57,000.
The last time the threshold was raised was in 2019, when it was $35,369 annually; according to the Society for Human Resource Management, the amount from three years ago would be worth $42,594 a year today when adjusted for inflation. In 2016, then-President Barack Obama attempted to increase the threshold to $47,476 yearly, but, after legal challenges by state governments and business groups, a federal judge ruled against it.
Under the proposed DOL rule, store supervisors, restaurant managers and millions of hourly workers would be eligible for time-and-a-half pay if they work more than 40 hours a week. In addition, the agency is looking to update the threshold every three years and align it with “current wage data.”
“I believe the new DOL rule would get these workers out of difficult financial situations and allow them to take home the extra money that they deserve,” Mr. Sack says. “Most of these employees are overworked and underpaid. This proposed new rule would fix this injustice that employees have had to endure for years and pay them what they are worth.”
