A federal judge in Texas on Friday permanently blocked a Biden administration rule that would have made about 4 million more salaried US workers eligible for overtime pay. that took effect in July improperly bases eligibility for overtime pay on workers’ wages rather than their job duties.
The rule would have required employers to pay overtime premiums to salaried workers who earn less than $1,128 per week, or about $58,600 per year, when they work more than 40 hours in a week, beginning Jan. 1, 2025, and it had temporarily raised the threshold to about $44,000 per year on July 1.
Federal law exempts workers with “executive, administrative, and professional” duties from receiving overtime pay, and the Labor Department has for decades used salary as one factor in deciding when that applies.