Biden official looks to demand overtime pay for millions more paid workers

The Biden administration’s Labor Department on Wednesday proposed a new rule that would raise the salary cap for receiving overtime pay, a move the agency says would give millions of wage workers a half-hour’s wages for every hour worked over 40 hours a day. week.

The plan would raise the threshold for salaried workers to receive overtime pay to $1,059 per week, about $55,000 annually, and would make an estimated 3.6 million additional salaried workers such as restaurant and grocery store managers eligible for a pay raise.

“For more than 80 years, the cornerstone of workers’ rights in this country has been the right to work 40 hours a week, and the promise to go home after 40 hours or receive higher pay for every additional hour spent working away,” said Acting “From your loved ones,” Secretary Julie Su said in a statement announcing the proposal. “I have heard from workers over and over again about working long hours, without overtime pay, all while receiving low salaries that don’t come close to compensating them for their sacrifices.”

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“Workers deserve to continue to participate in the economic prosperity that Biden’s economies provide,” Su added.

Under current rules, salaried workers are required to be paid overtime if they make up to $35,568 or less, the maximum since the Trump administration raised it from $23,600 in 2019.

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President Obama previously tried to raise the cap to $47,476, but a judge blocked the move in 2016 under pressure from states and companies.

Biden’s proposal immediately received opposition, too. The American Hotel and Lodging Association issued a press release denouncing the plan that would raise the minimum overtime salary for the second time in less than five years by more than 50%.

“Small business owners continue to contend with rising costs of running a business and inflationary pressures,” AHLA and COE President Chip Rogers said in a statement. “If implemented, the Labor Department’s proposal would lead not only to crushing increases in labor costs for employers, but to significant increases in taxation and administrative costs as well.

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Overtime pay typically applies to hourly workers, and companies often exempt employees who earn more than a certain income level. However, the Ministry of Labor sets a minimum salary level for exemption from overtime.

FOX Business’ Matthew Cousin contributed to this report.