Some Good News About Paid Overtime!
And some bad news about the persistent pay gap
If you make less than $47,476 a year but work over 40 hours a week, your life is about to get materially better. Thanks, Obama!
The new overtime threshold for salaried employees will be set at $47,476 and will take effect on Dec. 1, 2016. Under the regulation the threshold will be updated every three years. Biden will announce the changes tomorrow in Columbus, Ohio.
The administration estimates 4.2 million workers will benefit from the new rule’s overtime protections, because they will either be paid more or get to spend more time with their families. Today, the average full-time American worker works 47 hours a week, according to a Gallup study from 2014.
“If you work overtime, you should actually get paid for working overtime,” said Biden.
That our labor will no longer be exploited is good news for many of us.
Workers who would benefit the most from Obama’s #OvertimeRule? women African Americans under age 35 workers w/ lower levels of education
You see that, where it says “women”? That’s nice, because as the Wall Street Journal reminds us, women are getting shafted, thanks to our nation’s pay gap, which is more persistent and unkillable than herpes. Yes, the pay gap is a real problem in all but seven (!) of America’s 446 major professions, and the Journal is On It. One key takeaway: “Highly educated women fare worst of all.”
The graphics department even made a nice-looking interactive chart to inform and enrage us.
You can enter your profession and gauge the injustice for yourself.
But then use what you’ve learned! Knowledge is power. Just ask Robin Wright and Charlize Theron, who successfully negotiated deals in which they would get paid as much as they male co-stars.
Robin Wright Demanded Equal Pay for “House of Cards”
And enjoy your time-and-a-half!
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