After the Biden administration issued new rules that allow many salaried workers to start collecting overtime, the Department of Labor is raising the minimum salary threshold for exempt employees from $35,568 per year to $43,888 per year on Monday.
The threshold is a temporary one as it will go up to $58,656 on Jan. 1, 2025.
Generally, employers must pay nonexempt workers their usual hourly wage plus 50% for all work beyond 40 hours in a week. The updated thresholds will mean that people making under $58,656 will be eligible for overtime in 2025.
"That means higher paychecks and more time with family for millions of Americans. While Republicans side with big corporations and special interests on Park Avenue to try to deny workers these protections, I will always side with hardworking families like the ones I grew up with in Scranton," President Joe Biden said in a statement on Monday.
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The Department of Labor allows executive, administrative and professional employees (including teachers and academic administrative personnel in elementary and secondary schools); outside sales employees; and employees in certain computer-related occupations to be exempt from overtime as long as they are paid $844 a week, which equals $43,888 annually.
The new rule also could affect some salaried employees who make six figures a year. Previously, workers in other fields were exempt from overtime if they earned $107,432 annually. Starting July 1, the threshold increased to $132,964 per year. On Jan. 1, 2025, that amount goes up to $151,164 per year.
The White House estimates that 1 million workers are affected by Monday's changes.