The Joe Biden administration is planning to guarantee mandatory overtime pay for about 3.6 million workers in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Labor released a proposed rule that would require employers to pay overtime premiums to workers who earn a salary of less than $1,059 per week, or about $55,000 per year.
Jessica Looman, who heads the Labor Department office that enforces wage laws said the proposed law is important for all workers to be fairly paid.
“For too long, many low-paid salaried workers have been denied overtime pay, even though they often work long hours and perform much of the same work as their hourly counterparts,” Looman said in a statement.
U.S. wage law requires employers to pay eligible workers one and one-half times their regular rate of pay when they work more than 40 hours in a week.
Several states including California and New York have salary thresholds for determining overtime eligibility. These thresholds are higher than the current federal average.
The rule would mostly benefit citizens who do not directly take part in management duties.
