News Release

ESA News Release: [04/28/2004]
Contact Name: Lisa Kruska
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676

U.S. Labor Secretary Testifies in Support of New Overtime Security Rules

WASHINGTON—In testimony before the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee, U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao today said the Department’s new overtime security rules will strengthen and guarantee overtime pay protection for an unprecedented 6.7 million additional workers and make the existing rules much easier for workers and employers to understand.

“The new rules strengthen overtime protections for 6.7 million workers,” Secretary Chao said. “These rules expressly guarantee overtime for blue-collar workers, such as construction and factory workers, any worker paid on an hourly basis, licensed practical nurses, cooks, police, firefighters, EMTS and other first responders. White-collar salaried workers earning less than $23,660 are also guaranteed overtime. The overtime rights of many other categories of white collar workers are also strengthened and clarified by these new rules.”

Secretary Chao testified that the final rules do not expand the definitions of executive, administrative or professional duties for white-collar workers, but do provide much needed clarity that will reduce litigation and help the Department ensure that workers are paid properly for all hours worked.

“The new rules either preserve or strengthen current overtime protections based on current federal case law, regulations or laws passed by Congress,” Chao noted.

Secretary Chao also discussed yesterday’s announcement of a new enforcement task force within the Wage and Hour division of the Department of Labor. The new task force is designed to maximize protection of workers’ pay rights under the new overtime security rules and ensure that workers and employers know the facts about the new regulations.

“I am deeply concerned that the confusion being created through the campaign of misinformation and distortions will harm workers and may embolden unscrupulous employers to try to deprive workers of their overtime rights,” said Chao. “I met with our Wage and Hour district directors and charged them to make sure that workers and employers know the facts about these rules and are not confused by misinformation that is being spread. This final rule gives them the tools with which to ensure overtime security for more workers. Our goal is to ensure that workers get the overtime pay they’ve earned.”

The Department’s new FairPay rule was published in the Federal Register on Friday, April 23, 2004 and a text version is available online at www.dol.gov/fairpay.

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