Many salaried employees don’t realize that they may be eligible for overtime (OT) pay. They may have even been told by their employer when they went from an hourly position to a salaried one that they could no longer get OT – that because they were being paid more, they were expected to work as many hours as needed.
That’s not the case for salaried employees who earn under a certain amount. That’s known as an “exemption threshold. If they’re above that amount, they’re “exempt” from OT. If they earn below it, must be paid for their OT.
Biden administration has taken steps to help millions more salaried workers qualify for OT
This summer, the Biden administration raised that weekly salary exemption amount to $844 or approximately $44,000 annually. Employees with salaries below these amounts now qualify for OT pay if they work more than eight hours a day or 40 hours in a week. That’s approximately one million salaried employees than previously qualified for OT.
Those exemption limits are scheduled to rise again at the beginning of the year to $1,128 per week or about $58,700 annually. This will add another three million more non-exempt salaried employees.
More regular increases are planned for the next few years. A DOL official says that a regular exemption threshold increase “restores and extends overtime protections to lower-paid salary workers and prevents a future erosion of overtime protections while ensuring greater predictability.” However, those could end depending on what the next president chooses to do.
It’s crucial for all employees to know the law so that they can be able to knowledgeably assert their rights in the workplace. If that doesn’t work, it may be necessary to get legal guidance to help protect your right to fair pay.