WASHINGTON: Trump administration on Thursday issued a long-awaited proposal to extend mandatory overtime pay to a million more workers.
Under the existing law, salaried workers are automatically entitled to overtime pay only if they earn less than $23,660 a year, a figure set in 2004.
The proposal released on Thursday would raise the threshold to $35, 308.
The Labor Department in 2016 doubled the salary threshold to about $47,000, extending mandatory overtime pay to about 4 million U.S. workers.
Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta said in a statement that Thursday’s proposal would “bring common sense, consistency, and higher wages to working Americans.”
A higher salary threshold could lead to more lawsuits, since many more workers would be covered by the federal law mandating overtime pay. Trade groups have also said a higher overtime threshold could push employers to cut some workers’ hours.
The Obama administration rule would have automatically raised the salary threshold every three years.
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