The Economic Policy Institute and Democracy for America delivered over 40,000 petition signatures to the Department of Labor urging Secretary Perez not to delay much-needed overtime reform by extending the comment period on the proposed rule beyond 60 days. The comment period is currently scheduled to close on September 4th.
Policymakers and the American public overwhelmingly support overtime reform, but despite having ample time to weigh in, opponents of overtime reform have called on the DOL to extend the comment period in an attempt to delay and ultimately derail the final rule.
“Workers’ rights and business groups alike have known about the coming changes to overtime for 16 months, and have all had a chance to weigh in,” said EPI Vice President Ross Eisenbrey. “The only reason to extend the comment period is to run out the clock on this administration in the hopes that the rule change will be scuttled by the next president.”
Updating the salary threshold under which all workers are guaranteed overtime pay is an important step in raising Americans’ stagnant wages. An estimated 13.5 million workers will directly benefit from increasing the overtime threshold from $23,660 to $50,440 a year.