Labor Department Proposes Changes to Overtime Pay Rules for Certain Salaried Workers
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a proposed rulemaking that would extend eligibility for overtime pay to roughly 3.6 million salaried workers.
Specifically, the agency’s proposal would increase the current salary level for determining overtime pay requirements for executive, administrative, professional, outside sales, and computer employees from $684 a week ($35,568 annualized) to $1,059 a week ($55,068 annualized) – a nearly 55% increase.
The rulemaking also proposes to put in place automatic updates to the salary level every three years to reflect current earnings data and inflation.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, salaried workers are exempt from overtime pay requirements if a worker earns at or above a defined salary level called the “standard salary.” Under the proposal, salaried workers — which often include construction supervisors — earning less than $55,068 per year will be eligible to receive the standard overtime rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.