New rule extends overtime to 351,000 Ohio workers
Posted October 19, 2016 in Press Releases
Ohio and other states are fighting updated U.S. rule that allows more workers to qualify for overtime.
A previous version of this release incorrectly stated that the overtime threshold was last updated in 1975. The threshold received one subsequent update in 2004.
An updated rule established by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) will bring overtime protection to 12.5 million American workers, including 351,000 Ohioans. The rule, slated to take effect December 1, requires that salaried employees who are paid less than $47,476 a year be paid time and a half for hours that they work beyond 40 in any given week. Ohio and other states are suing the federal government to try to avoid complying with the update, even though most legal scholars are confident that the adjustment will be upheld. Overtime pay was established for professional and executive salaried workers in 1938 and was updated regularly until 1975, then not again until 2004. That year, anyone paid less than $23,440 was provided time and a half for hours beyond 40.