In a transfer that would have an effect on thousands and thousands of staff, the Biden administration introduced Wednesday that it was proposing to considerably improve the cutoff beneath which most salaried staff routinely obtain time-and-a-half extra time pay.
Under the proposed rule, issued by the Labor Department, the cutoff for receiving extra time pay after 40 hours every week would rise to about $55,000 a yr from about $35,500, a stage that was set throughout the Trump administration.
About 3.6 million salaried staff who fall between the present cutoff and the brand new one would successfully acquire extra time pay eligibility underneath the proposed rule, the division stated. Some employers might select to boost staff’ pay above $55,000 to keep away from paying extra time.
Julie Su, the division’s performing secretary, stated in an announcement that the rule “would help restore workers’ economic security by giving millions more salaried workers the right to overtime protections.”
Some business teams, notably in retail, eating and hospitality companies, have argued that expanded extra time eligibility could lead on many employers to transform some salaried staff to hourly staff and lower their hourly wage to go away their total pay unchanged.
These teams argue that vastly increasing extra time eligibility may additionally discourage employers from selling staff to junior administration positions that present a path to well-paying careers, as a result of extra employers could be compelled to pay junior managers extra time after they work lengthy hours.
The proposal follows a equally formidable transfer by the Obama administration in 2016, which sought to boost the extra time cutoff for many salaried workers to $47,500 from about $23,500. But simply earlier than Donald J. Trump took workplace as president, a federal choose in Texas suspended the Obama rule, concluding that the administration lacked the authorized authority to boost the extra time cutoff so considerably.
The Trump administration later put in the present extra time restrict of about $35,500.
Under the Biden administration’s proposal, the extra time restrict would routinely regulate each three years to maintain tempo with rising earnings.
Source: www.nytimes.com