President Obama is expected to issue an order to the Labor Department this week to reform regulations that will ultimately make private businesses pay more for overtime.
Mr. Obama will demand Labor officials revamp rules on what defines an “executive or professional” position — classifications that normally come with exemptions for overtime pay. The change in policy will open the doors for more higher-earners to receive additional pay when they work above 40 hours, The Hill reported.
“Due to years of neglect, one of the linchpins of the middle class, the overtime rules that establish the 40-hour workweek, have been eroded,” said one White House officials, quoted in The Hill. “As a result, millions of salaried workers have been left without the protections of overtime or sometimes even the minimum wage.”
One example cited by the White House: “A fast food shift supervisor or an office worker may be expected to work 50 or 60 hours a week or more, making barely enough to keep a family out of poverty, and not receive a dime of overtime pay,” The Hill reported.
Current law dictates that employers give overtime for salaried workers who earn less than $455 per week. Mr. Obama’s executive order would open the doors for those who make more than that in salary each week to receive overtime pay.
Mr. Obama is expected to sign his order on Thursday.
“We need to fix the system so folks working hard are getting compensated fairly,” said Ceceilia Munoz, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, in The New York Times.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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