As labor day approaches, the Department of Labor is readying to give several million Americans a much-needed boost to low-paying, salaried positions. Employers could end up paying 6.1 million more workers overtime if the Department of Labor moves ahead with a proposal to change salary regulations to adjust for inflation, according to the National Law Journal.
The change, adjusted for inflation, would make employees who make $984 or less a week on a salaried basis eligible for for overtime pay.
Businesses are currently required to pay salaried workers overtime if they make $455 or less per week.
The findings were discussed “Increasing the Overtime Salary Threshold Is Family-Friendly Policy,” a report from the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.
President Barack Obama has requested that the DOL make a plan to bring overtime pay to more salaried employees. The DOL hasn’t yet decided on an exact figure for the threshold. Economists to the White House have suggested the $984 threshold, which the Economic Policy Institute also backs.
The proposed threshold increase mostly would benefit blacks, Hispanics and women in the workforce, who tend to make up a large portion of the middle and lower-middle class population, as well as workers who are younger than 35 years old or have limited education.