On Tuesday the Department of Labor got closer to dismantling an Obama-era overtime regulation that has been in limbo for months and would make millions of Americans eligible for additional pay. The department sent a formal request for information on the rule to the Office of Management and Budget.
The rule was one of the Obama administration's labor policy cornerstones. It said anyone making less than $47,476 a year would be eligible for time-and-a-half pay for hours worked beyond a 40-hour work week, doubling the previous salary threshold.
"Our whole mission here is about strengthening and growing the middle class," Tom Perez, who was labor secretary then, told NPR's Scott Horsley. "In order to do that, we need to ensure that middle class jobs pay middle class wages."
But 21 states as well as business groups sued, saying the move amounted to federal overreach and would burden the public and private sector.
A federal judge ultimately agreed, blocking implementation of the policy about a week before it was supposed to go into effect on Dec. 1, 2016.
More:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/27/534597018/labor-department-rethinking-obama-era-overtime-pay-rule
