Strengthening Overtime Pay Rights for
Workers
Protecting the Overtime Rights of Low and Middle-Income American Workers
In
2004, the U.S. Department of Labor successfully led an effort to update
complex, decades-old overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards
Act (FLSA) which had not been substantially changed in 54 years.
The Department’s final rule, which went into effect on August 23, 2004,
now ensures that anyone earning less than $23,660 annually is
automatically entitled to overtime. Previously, the old regulations
could deny overtime pay to someone earning as little as $8,060 a year.
Under the new overtime protections,
thousands of workers have become immediately eligible for overtime pay,
and the evidence suggests employers are providing overtime to these
workers and increasing worker pay. Some partisans attempted to
paint this rule as an attack on workers, falsely claiming that it
eliminated overtime pay. Nothing could be further from the truth.
House Republicans remain committed to strengthening overtime protections
for American workers and ensuring more Americans receive overtime pay.
Issue
Brief: Strengthening
Overtime Pay Rights for Workers
