Brown Blasts New Trump Administration Overtime Threshold that Will Deprive Workers of Overtime Pay

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today blasted the Trump administration following the news that it has finalized a rule that would set the salary threshold under which workers would be guaranteed overtime pay at $35,568, down from $47,476 set by the Obama Administration.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, a preliminary calculation suggests that well over half of the workers who would have gotten new or strengthened overtime protections under the 2016 rule would be left behind by this rule. This means the Trump administration’s rule would leave out millions of workers. The Trump administration’s overtime threshold is not nearly high enough and would deny low- to middle- income workers potential wages they have earned or more time with their families.

“People who work 50 or 60 hours a week should be paid the wages they’ve earned. Period,” said Brown. “Through this rule, the Trump administration is breaking its promise to hardworking Americans. By failing to stand up for workers and expanding the overtime rule, the President is failing to put workers first and is driving down the value of work.”

In June, Sens. Brown and Patty Murray (D-WA) joined Reps. Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Mark Takano (D-CA) in introducing legislation to make millions of American workers newly eligible for overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours a week, providing economic security to millions of working families. Their Restoring Overtime Pay Act would increase the overtime salary level to about $51,000 per year, making roughly 4.6 million workers newly eligible for overtime pay.

The Brown, Murray, Scott and Takano bill would codify the Obama Administration’s 2016 overtime rule, which would have strengthened overtime protections for millions of workers. However, a November 2016 ruling out of a federal district court in Texas prevented the rule from being implemented.

Brown, Murray, Scott and Takano first introduced this bill last Congress. They reintroduced the bill earlier this year, at a time when the Trump administration was proposing to deny millions of workers the overtime pay they have earned. Now, the administration is officially doing that with its inadequate overtime rule.

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