From EPI: Overtime Rule Sign-On - Restoring Overtime Pay Act

The overtime rules that allow working families to earn a fair wage are out of date—eroding to the point where they cover only a fraction of the people they were designed to protect. In 2016, the Department of Labor attempted to strengthen these regulations by giving more working people the right to overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours a week. Unfortunately, this long-overdue update was blocked in the courts by business interests, and on October 31, 2017, the Trump administration made clear in legal proceedings that it would not defend the updated rule. The result will be over a billion dollars in lost wages each year, and millions of working people left with weakened protections—or none at all. As of yesterday, April 1, 2018, working people will have lost $500 million in potential wages since Trump abandoned the overtime pay rule.[1] Now, Senators Sherrod Brown and Patty Murray and Representatives Mark Takano and Bobby Scott have introduced the Restoring Overtime Pay Act, which would raise the salary threshold under which salaried workers are guaranteed overtime pay from $23,660 to $48,412―increasing overtime protections for millions of working people. Stand with the EPI Policy Center and our partners and become a co-signer of the Restoring Overtime Pay Act today!  Back in 1975, the Labor Department set the salary level for overtime exemption at the equivalent of well over $50,000 in today’s dollars―high enough to cover more than 60 percent of full-time salaried workers. Today, it has eroded to the point where less than 7 percent of full-time salaried workers are eligible for overtime protections based on their pay. This legislation would restore that coverage to over 30 percent, ensuring that fewer people are left working long hours without seeing a dime of extra pay. The Restoring Overtime Pay Act would set the threshold at $48,412 and update every three years to maintain its value as wages and prices rise. In the absence of any real action from the Trump administration, it’s critical that Congress act to raise the wages of working people. Become a co-signer of the Restoring Overtime Pay Act today to extend overtime eligibility to millions of working people and strengthen the rights of millions more.  Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers have taken billions of dollars out of the pockets of working people and worked to strip basic protections away from low- and middle-income families. Together, we’re standing up for working people and demanding an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few. Thank you, Heidi Shierholz Senior Economist and Director of Policy, EPI Policy Center [1] https://www.epi.org/multimedia/overtime-pay-cut/