From the Coalition on Human Needs (http://www.chn.org):
Did you know that if you’re earning a salary of just $35,000, you’re most likely not receiving overtime pay?
That’s put millions of workers in a position where they could be forced to work 60, 80, even 90 hours a week without the benefit of overtime. Worse yet, these workers may not even be earning a minimum wage.
In 1975, more than 60% of salaried workers were automatically eligible to receive overtime pay. Today that number has shrunk to just 13%.
President Biden can change that with the stroke of a pen. Go to https://actionnetwork.org/letters/take-action-urge-president-biden-to-update-the-overtime-rules-and-support-millions-of-working-people to send a message directly to the president, urging him to raise the overtime salary threshold so that millions more working people are eligible to receive the overtime pay they deserve.
In 2016, at the end of the Obama administration, President Obama signed an executive order that would have extended overtime pay to millions more working people.
For years, the overtime salary threshold had been stuck at just $23,660. That meant that if you earned more than $455 a week, or were considered a manager, you were not eligible to receive overtime pay. President Obama sought to raise that threshold to $47,476, increasing the pay of 13.5 million workers and giving 4.6 newly eligible workers the right to receive overtime pay and earn a fair living.
Unfortunately, 21 Republican-led states and the Chamber of Commerce filed lawsuits against the Department of Labor seeking to stop the implementation of the Obama-era overtime rule. And, in 2017, the Trump administration refused to defend the rule―choosing instead to implement their own, weaker version.
The Trump-era overtime rule left out 8.2 million working people―including 4.2 million women, 3 million people of color, 4.7 million workers without a college degree, and 2.7 million parents with children under the age of 18, who would have gotten overtime protections under the 2016 Obama guidelines.1
Now, through executive order, President Biden has the opportunity to strengthen the rights and wages of millions of working people.
Watch, sign, and send.
The 40-hour work week used to ensure that Americans had the ability to spend time with their families. And if they worked a single minute over 40 hours, they’d be paid time-and-a-half.
Across the country, workers are rising up, demanding fair pay, benefits, and scheduling. Let’s show workers we have their backs. Take action today!
1 https://www.epi.org/press/the-trump-administrations-overtime-rule-leaves-millions-of-workers-behind/
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