Federal Overtime Revisions Moving Forward

In late November, opponents of the proposed federal rules that would change overtime pay provisions abandoned their attempts to block the rules from going forward. The proposed changes had faced strong opposition from labor unions and had divided Democrats and Republicans along party lines. It is now likely that the revisions will go into effect in 2004.

Although the Department of Labor has touted the proposed changes as providing overtime pay for 1.3 million "low-wage" workers not previously eligible for the pay, for the most part the revisions seem to benefit employers. More employees may be eligible for overtime pay because the salary threshold would increase from $155 a week to $425 a week. However, under the proposed changes, workers earning $65,000 a year or more and performing non-manual tasks would likely be ineligible for overtime.