Here's why President Obama's
plan to expand overtime protections is
overdue and desperately needed:
Salaried workers earning more than a certain threshold are exempt from getting paid overtime, because they're seen as professional or managerial. But today, that salary threshold is a ridiculously low $455 a week. What's more, many employers exploit a loophole that counts a worker as a manager if even one percent of their work duties involve managerial tasks, even if the other 99 percent of their duties are things like stocking shelves or running a cash register. And since they're salaried, these so-called managers can be pushed to work 10-hour days without the employer paying them for their time.
Obama has directed the Department of Labor to revise overtime rules, raising the salary threshold to something that doesn't exclude all but a tiny fraction of workers and taking aim at the manager loophole. Expect squealing and whining from Republicans pressuring Obama to keep the salary threshold at rock bottom.