WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is continuing his efforts to secure overtime pay for 130,000 Ohio workers. Brown met with U.S. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta this week to press the Secretary to deliver on the overtime pay that was promised to all Ohio workers who work more than 40 hours per week.
“Thousands of Ohioans working 50 and 60 hours a week were promised a raise. And it is up to President Trump and Secretary Acosta to make good on that promise,” said Brown. “130,000 Ohioans have earned this pay raise.”
The overtime rule was announced in May 2016, promising 130,000 Ohioans and 4.2 million Americans a raise beginning January of 2017. But in November 2016 a lawsuit prevented the overtime rule from being implemented. The Obama Administration appealed the ruling, but it was left to the Trump Administration to decide whether or not to continue defending the rule in court.
The Department of Labor filed paperwork in June to move forward with the appeal. However, as part of that paperwork, the Administration asked the court not to rule on the specific salary threshold of $47,476 that was set by the 2016 rule – indicating they may lower the threshold and therefore deliver overtime protection for a much smaller number of American workers.
Brown introduced a resolution last month with U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) urging the President to defend the rule and to maintain the $47,476 salary threshold.
The $47,476 threshold was set after months of public comment and compromise with employers to address their concerns. Some employers, including Kroger and PNC Financial in Ohio, have moved forward with implementing the rule for their employees even though it was tied up in courts.
At a press conference with Brown in January, Kroger said, “Kroger is not only in the food business, we’re also in the people business. In the highly-competitive retail industry, our great people are our biggest competitive advantage. That’s why moving forward with pay increases and overtime eligibility changes for nearly 4,500 associates, despite the court-ordered injunction on the new overtime rules, was important. We knew the right thing to do was to honor our commitment to our associates and to our company values.”
Prior to the rule’s announcement in May 2016, the threshold applied only to people earning less than $23,660 annually and had not been updated to account for inflation.
Brown’s work to update federal overtime policies is part of his broader efforts to restore the value of work so Ohioans’ work will pay off once again. His plan would restore the value of work by:
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