White House close to finalizing new overtime rules

The White House is close to finalizing new overtime protections for millions of low-wage workers.

The Labor Department sent the long-awaited overtime rule to the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on Tuesday for final approval.

Once the White House signs off, the Labor Department will issue the final rule. The OIRA has an incentive to move quickly: the overtime rule a pet project of President Obama’s that stem from a two-year-old executive order, and agencies are rushing to complete rules during his last year in office.

The overtime rule would raise the pay of millions of employees who work more than 40 hours in a week. The details of the final rule will not be known until it is released to the public, but the proposed rule from last June called for all workers who make less than $970 a week, or $50,440 a year, to be paid time and a half for any overtime they work.

Currently, salaried workers who making more than $23,660 a year do not qualify for overtime pay.

Such an expansion of the overtime rule would raise wages for nearly 5 million workers, according to the Obama administration.