The U.S. Justice Department announced on September 5 that it will not defend the Labor Department ruling for extended overtime benefits. The rule, which would increase the salary threshold that qualifies workers for overtime pay, has been on hold since November 2016.
The rule would have required employers to pay time-and-a-half wages to most salaried workers earning less than $47,476 per year. Such an increase would have affected more than four million workers, more than doubling the current overtime pay cutoff of $23,660.
Judge Amos Mazzant, who initially blocked the rule, stated that it “improperly focused on workers’ salaries rather than job descriptions.” The Restaurant Law Center, along with other affected groups and businesses, have stated that they will continue working with the Department of Labor to see that workable changes to the overtime rule are enacted.
