On the Labor Department’s Regrettable Move to Revisit the Overtime Rule

Washington, DC—Following is a statement from Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project:

“The Labor Department’s decision to revisit and likely revise the overtime rule is a slap in the face to millions of workers all across America who have waited long enough to be paid fairly for their overtime hours.

“Taking away overtime pay is no way to make America great again or benefit working people, as the president had promised in his inaugural address. It’s just another giveaway to big corporations and their lobbyists and CEOs.

“Working people should not have to wait another day for government to be on their side. We call on the Labor Department and the White House to move ahead to implement the existing overtime pay rule, which was released after two years of extensive stakeholder engagement, including nearly 300,000 public comments, the vast majority of which were favorable to the proposed rule.

“The rule helps ensure that 12.5 million more Americans are protected by the Fair Labor Standards Act’s guarantee of time-and-a-half overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours per week.

“By raising the exempt salary threshold to $47,476—up from a meager $23,660—the rule extends coverage to one-third of salaried workers, a substantial increase from the mere eight percent who are covered today.

“Seriously, just do the right thing for America’s workers.”

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