Trump Labor Department Rule on Overtime Pay Scraps Toxic Obama-Era Ratchet
Today, the U.S. Labor Department released its long-awaited rule on overtime pay for salaried employees. Competitive Enterprise Institute labor policy analyst Trey Kovacs praised the new rule for its far more reasonable, affordable approach to the overtime mandate, compared to now-defunct the Obama-era rule.
“The Labor Department’s rule on overtime pay is a vast improvement from the Obama-era plan that was struck down in court. The new rule scraps a particularly toxic element of the Obama rule, which would have squeezed businesses and employers with automatic ratchets to the salary threshold. Such a provision blatantly disregards the law and was repeatedly rejected by past administrations.
“In contrast, this new rule takes a better approach, making it easier for employers to afford, with incremental increases to the salary threshold. By raising the overtime salary threshold to a reasonable level, professional employees will be able to keep many of the benefits that matter to them, like flexible schedules. The final rule also ends the immense uncertainty surrounding overtime requirements that left job creators unsure how to properly compensate or classify their employees.”
CEI Comments to DOL on Overtime Rule
CEI Comments to the Department of Labor on Overtime Rule Regulations