Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Department of Labor released a new rule that determines who can receive overtime pay. The rule falls far short of the Obama administration’s overtime rule, which would have extended overtime pay to workers earning up to $47,476 and indexed future changes to wage growth. In contrast, under the Trump administration’s new rule, only salaried workers earning less than $35,568 will be automatically eligible for overtime pay, leaving behind 8.2 million workers and costing them $1.4 billion per year in lost pay compared with the Obama-era rule. Following the release of the rule, Sam Berger, vice president of Democracy and Government Reform at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has worked to roll back overtime protections for the middle class, thereby cutting their pay. With this rule, we now know the cost: Trump will cut workers’ pay by more than $1.4 billion per year, a number that will only grow with time. Regulations provide the rules of the road that shape how markets operate. The critical question is who writes those rules and who benefits from them. Under the Trump administration, the answer has been clear: The rules have been written by and for industry insiders and powerful corporations, and it is hardworking Americans who are paying the price.
Related resource: “3 of Trump’s Regulatory Rollbacks Could Cost People Almost $42 Billion a Year” by Sam Berger and Malkie Wall
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, contact Julia Cusick at [email protected] or 202-495-3682.