Commentary: The Department of Labor’s proposal to increase the salary level requirement for being exempt from overtime is anticipated to impact 6 million workers. The current threshold is $23,660 per year, and the proposed new threshold is $50,440. Many of these employees are low level managers or managers in the retail and food industries. Many are also in some lower paid professions, such as social work. The proposed new threshold would also increase annually so that it remains at the 40th percentile of full-time salaried employees.
The government claims that these changes are good because more employees will be eligible for overtime pay. This does not mean that these employees will earn more money or even work less. It will depend.
