President Obama is on the cusp of taking action alone that be the most aggressive move to help workers in decades. Obama is about to double the wages of millions of American workers by closing a loophole that employers have been using to avoid paying overtime.
Politico reported, “The Obama administration is on the verge of possibly doubling the salary levels that would require employers to pay overtime in the most ambitious government intervention on wages in a decade. And it doesn’t need Congress’s permission. As early as this week, the Labor Department could propose a rule that would raise the current overtime threshold — $23,660 – to as much as $52,000, extending time and a half overtime pay to millions of American workers.”
As I wrote when the news of this new rule surfaced in April, “Millions of workers in the service sector have been victimized for years by the tactic of being labeled a manager, but not receiving commensurate pay for the position. By not paying managers overtime, corporate giants can keep wages artificially low. With a stroke of President Obama’s pen, millions of workers will be paid for the extra hours that they are currently working for free.”
The President’s executive action will apply to all workers who are classified as managers, but are earning under the overtime threshold. The retail and service sectors have been avoiding overtime rules for years by classifying employees as managers to avoid paying them the full compensation that they deserve.
Republicans are responding to the new rule with the same argument that they make against any change that would benefit workers. Republicans are claiming that the new overtime rule will kill jobs. The point that Republicans ignore is that having a job doesn’t do a worker any good if that job doesn’t pay enough to pay the bills.
President Obama has scored several victories for labor during his presidency. Obama has also implemented a new rule that would speed up the process for workers to unionize. After decades of defeats, President Obama has given workers some serious momentum. Obama is empowering labor and reversing a trend that goes back to the Reagan administration.
Obama is doing what Republicans in Congress refuse to do, and by acting alone, he is going to make the lives of millions of Americans better by using some common sense fairness to make sure that workers are getting paid what they really earn.
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