Millions of Women to Benefit from New Overtime Pay Rule

[niyad]

Millions of Women to Benefit from New Overtime Pay Rule


The Obama Administration today announced its final rule extending overtime protections to millions of workers. The rule, which will take effect on December 1, raises the salary threshold for overtime pay from $23,660 to $47,476 per year, making nearly 4.2 million additional workers—more than half of whom are women— eligible to receive overtime protections. The new rulemaking under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) means that millions of workers will now be eligible to receive time-and-a-half pay for each hour they work over a 40-hour work week. The Administration estimates that the new rule will raise wages by nearly $12 billion over the next decade.

Currently only 7% of workers qualify for overtime protections, a sharp decline from the 62% of workers who qualified for overtime pay in 1975, when the threshold was last expanded. The new rule will raise the percentage of workers who qualify for overtime pay to about 33%, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The new rule will also ensure that the threshold for overtime pay is automatically updated every three years to prevent stagnating wage protections.

Extending overtime pay protections will help curb worker exploitation by setting clear guidelines meant to ensure that employees are compensated for the extra time they work. Increasing the salary threshold creates a bright line rule that protects workers who may have been misclassified as not eligible for overtime pay. Certain companies were flouting overtime compensation laws by giving otherwise eligible employees managerial titles, which allowed them to deny overtime pay.

“The new salary threshold will provide millions of workers with higher wages or more time with their families. It will also give hourly and part-time workers the opportunity to pick up work that might have otherwise been done during overtime by their full-time, salaried colleagues,” said Ross Eisenbrey, Vice President of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). “It’s exciting to see government working for working people and their families. Congratulations to President Obama, Secretary Perez, and the Department of Labor and its own hard-working employees, for a job well done.”

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http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2016/05/18/millions-of-women-to-benefit-from-new-overtime-pay-rule/