The Obama administration yesterday announced rules to ensure millions more workers are eligible for extra pay when they work overtime, handing a victory to unions.
The Department of Labor rules will extend overtime protection to 4.2m Americans who are not eligible under federal law, in a move that the White House predicts will boost wages by $1.2bn a year.
The rule will double the salary threshold to $47,476 per year under which most salaried workers are guaranteed overtime when working more than 40 hours a week. That is below the $50,400 level announced in a proposal from the administration last summer, but well above the current level of $23,660 a year, which has been unchanged for more than a decade.