Washington, D.C. — Today, Judge Amos Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas issued an injunction against a forthcoming rule by the U.S. Department of Labor that would raise the overtime salary threshold to $913 per week, or $47,476 per year.
Center for American Progress Action Fund Executive Director and Center for American Progress Senior Vice President Angela Kelley issued the following statement:
Today’s decision from the Eastern District of Texas represents a major setback for the country’s workers. By siding with the big business lobby and granting an injunction against the Department of Labor’s plan to raise the overtime salary threshold from $23,660 to $47,476 a year, one judge has prevented millions of Americans, who are not currently guaranteed overtime protections, from getting a much needed raise. Despite U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant’s assertion that the Department of Labor’s new overtime threshold is too high, economic analysis shows that the rule would only have a very small impact on employers. By enjoining the rule, the Eastern District has made it easy for Republicans to wipe the rule away completely once President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The rule would have raised Americans’ wages by approximately $12 billion over the next 10 years. The Department of Labor has only updated the nation’s overtime rules once since the 1970s.
The new overtime rule salary threshold was set to take effect on December 1.
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