4 Noteworthy Quotes From Lawmakers on Overtime Threshold Increase

The debate over wages and pay continue as lawmakers are now addressing the issue of overtime threshold.

In 2015, President Barack Obama proposed new rules regarding overtime pay in an effort to bolster the middle class. Under these new rules, workers making up to $50,544 in salary for all of 2016 will eligible of overtime pay. The previous threshold, which was in established in 2004, qualified only workers making up to $23,660 for overtime pay.

Here are a four notable quotes from lawmakers discussing the possible overtime threshold increase.

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“Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do exceptionally well? Or will we push for an economy where every American who works hard can contribute to and benefit from our success?”
– President Barack Obama, in an op-ed for The Huffington Post

“The rules governing who is eligible for overtime have eroded over the years. As a result, millions of salaried workers have been left without the guarantee of time and a half pay for the extra hours they spend on the job and away from their families."
– Secretary Thomas Perez, U.S. Department of Labor

"We must also end the scandal in which millions of American employees, often earning less than $30,000 a year, work 50 or 60 hours a week – and earn no overtime."
– Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, in a campaign speech

“Just imagine how discouraging this rule will be to the working mother who can no longer negotiate her schedule to, say, work from home when she needs to, or to the young restaurant assistant manager who loses his title and is returned to an hourly job with no more pay, or to the job seeker who discovers that the only available jobs are part-time. What Washington owes these workers is policies that create better opportunities, more flexibility and enable them to have more control over their work lives.”
– Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, chair of Senate Labor Committee


Tell Us: Should the Government Raise the Minimum Wage?

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• Pros and Cons of Overtime Threshold