Gallego, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Expand Overtime Pay to Nearly 30 Million Workers

WASHINGTON – As President Trump and congressional Republicans tout so-called “No Tax on Overtime” while simultaneously denying the right to overtime pay for more than 4.3 million workers, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and his colleagues introduced the Restoring Overtime Pay Act to expand and strengthen overtime protections for nearly 30 million workers. “Right now, families across the country are working harder than ever but getting less in return. Anyone willing to come in early and stay late deserves to be compensated fairly,” said Senator Gallego . “At a time when gas and groceries costs are through the roof, ensuring workers who put in more than 40 hours a week get time-and-a-half pay means more than ever.” The Restoring Overtime Pay Act would expand or strengthen overtime protections for up to 29.3 million workers by gradually increasing the overtime salary threshold from just $35,568 today to more than $89,000 by 2030 . This legislation comes on the heels of President Trump’s rescission of a rule that would have expanded overtime pay for more than 4 million workers. Currently, just eight percent of full-time salaried workers are eligible for overtime pay based on their salaries alone. This legislation would increase that figure to 55% of full-time salaried workers. This is not a radical idea. In 1975, nearly 63% of all full-time salaried workers were guaranteed overtime pay. Also introducing this legislation are Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ed Markey (D-MA, Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Cory Booker (D-NJ.), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Peter Welch (D-VT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Jack Reed (D-RI), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), and 23 members of the House of Representatives. The Restoring Overtime Pay Act has been endorsed by 34 organizations, including the AFL-CIO, United Auto Workers (UAW), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM); International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE); National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Communications Workers of America (CWA), UNITE HERE, United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), United for Respect, and United Steelworkers (USW). Read the bill text HERE . Read a fact sheet HERE . Read a section-by-section summary HERE .