HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The Latest on Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposal to expand overtime pay (all times local):
2 p.m.
The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry is warning that Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s move to make hundreds of thousands of additional salaried employees eligible for overtime pay will force employers to cut back hours and pay.
The organization’s president and CEO, Gene Barr, said Wednesday that it’ll increase the cost of doing business, make workplace schedules less flexible and potentially reduce pay for former salary workers.
The regulation would require that salaried workers earning up to almost $48,000 a year in 2022 get time-and-a-half pay for any time they work over 40 hours in a week. Pennsylvania’s current threshold is set at the federal baseline of $23,660, which took effect in 2004.
Wolf says raising the overtime threshold would strengthen the middle class and make wages fairer. Approval of the proposed regulation could take more than a year.
Several other states require overtime pay for salaried workers above the federal baseline.
____
10 a.m.
Stymied by Republicans in his effort to pass a law raising the minimum wage, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf is moving to boost pay in Pennsylvania by making hundreds of thousands of additional salaried employees eligible for overtime pay.
Wolf unveiled his proposal Wednesday. Wolf says raising the overtime threshold would strengthen the middle class, boost the economy and help make wages fairer.
The proposed regulation would need approval from a five-member agency board that has a 3-2 Democratic majority. The process could take more than a year.
The regulation would require that salaried workers earning up to almost $48,000 a year in 2022 get time-and-a-half pay for any time they work over 40 hours in a week.
Pennsylvania’s current threshold is set at the federal baseline of $23,660, which took effect in 2004.
California, New York and a handful of other states require overtime pay for salaried workers above the federal baseline.
____
1 a.m.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf wants to require that employers pay overtime wages to hundreds of thousands more lower-paid Pennsylvanians.
Wolf administration officials told The Associated Press they planned to announce the initiative Wednesday. They expect to introduce a proposed regulation soon. The approval process could take more than a year.
The administration says the rule would phase in the increase over three years and cover 460,000 more salaried workers. It would eventually require that salaried workers earning up to almost $48,000 a year get time-and-a-half pay for any time they work over 40 hours in a week.
Pennsylvania’s current threshold is set at the federal baseline of $23,660.
California, New York and several other states with higher minimum wages require overtime pay for some salaried workers above the federal baseline.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.