Labor Department Announces They Will Implement Brown Plan To Expand Overtime Pay For Workers

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) released the below statement following the announcement of a new, final overtime rule by the U.S. Department of Labor that will make millions of American workers newly eligible for overtime pay. The final rule takes important steps toward implementing many of the changes Brown has long fought for, increasing pay for workers by raising the salary threshold under which workers are guaranteed overtime pay when they work extra hours.

"We've fought for this for years to make hard work pay off for millions of workers. If you put in extra hours you should earn extra pay, period. Raising the threshold will reward work and ensure that millions of workers in Ohio and around the country will finally get the overtime pay they've earned," said Brown.

The Department of Labor announced that, beginning July 1, 2024, the salary threshold required to exempt a salaried employee from federal overtime pay requirements will increase to the equivalent of an annual salary of $43,888 and increase to $58,656 on Jan. 1, 2025. Beginning in 2027, salary thresholds will update every three years, ensuring that workers' wages aren't eroded by inflation. The current overtime threshold is just$35,568 per year, resulting in millions of working- and middle-class workers working extra hours without a cent in overtime pay. Brown repeatedly pushed the Biden administration to take strong action to restore overtime pay protections for millions of workers.

Brown has long led the fight to expand overtime pay for millions of Americans who are working long hours without fair pay. Brown introduced the Restoring Overtime Pay Act of 2023which would permanently enshrine overtime protections into law and guarantee that 55 percent of all salaried workers will be eligible for overtime pay. The legislation would protect workers' financial security by ensuring that overtime pay is protected - regardless of who is in the White House.

Brown has fought for years to ensure that when workers put in extra hours, they get extra pay. In 2015, he pushed the Obama administration to adopt a new rule that would increase the overtime salary threshold, and helped announce the new rule in Ohio in 2016. The proposed rule led to more Ohio workers becoming eligible for the overtime pay they've earned. This rule was blocked by a federal judge in 2016 who issued a nationwide injunction that effectively denied 4.2 million workers overtime benefits. When the Trump administration proposed a new rule that would have set the overtime salary threshold at $35,000 - down from $47,476 set by the Obama administration - Brown led the fight to restore the threshold to what it should have been. In 2017, Brown introduced legislation to guarantee expanded overtime pay.

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