Attorney General Chris Carr Praises Injunction for Updated Overtime Rule
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr issued a statement today in support of a decision by the US District Court to issue an injunction against enforcement of an updated rule from the Department of Labor that changed the way overtime pay would be applied to certain workers.
I commend the court’s preliminary injunction. The overtime rule is the latest example of the States stepping in to stop the Obama administration from defying Congress and implementing its own agenda rather than following the law. This unlawful overreach has undoubtedly put a strain on businesses and state government entities to prepare for its implementation, so our office will continue to provide guidance and support to our clients in accordance with the federal court order.
The updated ruling, which was supposed to have gone into effect December 1st, would have changed the requirement for certain white collar workers to be exempt from paying overtime wages. Previously, such employees would be exempt from being paid overtime if they made more than $23,660 annually. The new threshold is $47,476 annually.
The rule change came about after President Obama ordered the department of Labor to update its overtime requirements such that salary level, rather than duties. Believing such a change could only be made by Congress, the attorneys general of 21 states, including Georgia, filed a lawsuit challenging the rule. That lawsuit led to the injunction. With Donald Trump becoming president in January, it’s possible the new administration will withdraw the rule, making a continuation of the suit meaningless.
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Jon Richards
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This cost me a $10k raise.
At the risk of sounding like a bleeding heart and granting ahead of time that certain jobs are only worth so much, Georgia is a right-to-work state, etc. Should a person who likely receives $300 a week in take home pay be screwed out of overtime wages just by giving them a glorified title? We need to seek some common ground in these stupid partisan games and someone willing to work more than 40 hours should be incentivized to do so.
There’s nothing bleeding heart about overtime pay for supervisory workers earning only $11.40`an hour if they worked a 40. ($23,660 / yr)
Wouldn’t it help Make America Great Again if the threshold amount for overtime pay were increased, as the Obama administration rulemaking sought, to return it to 1950’s levels adjusted for inflation?
That it’s not is an indication of the mindset of the Trump voters that put him in office.