Obama Administration Proposes New Rules on Overtime Pay

The Obama administration's proposed rules to update the requirements for determining workers' overtime pay are an important first step toward improving the lives of millions of working families. When finalized, the new rules will mean a pay increase for at least 5 million workers who now work more than 40 hours a week but are denied overtime pay.

Currently under the Fair Labor Standards Act, non-hourly workers who earn less than $23,660 a year are paid a time and a half if they work more than 40 hours per week. This limit is way out of date; in 1975, 62 percent of the workforce qualified for overtime but today it's fewer than 12 percent. The new threshold would be $50,440 a year or about $970 a week.

In addition, too many workers are subject to employers' efforts to intentionally misclassify them as "professionals" to deprive them of the overtime pay they have earned, or use other means to force workers to put in extra hours without compensation.

CWA will continue to advocate for full and effective bargaining rights for workers as the most effective way for working families to improve incomes and their standard of living.