Good Thing — in Jan. 2020, Trump’s Labor Department increased “salary threshold” to $35,568 for “guaranteed time and 1/2 for overtime”

[Multicolored Lemur]

Obama’s Labor Department had tried to do this, too. In Dec. 2016, this threshold was going to be increased to $47,476, but a federal judge struck it down. [Maybe Obama had gone too far, maybe the judge was wrong]

I like this example because it’s a policy that both President Trump and President Obama supported. Or, at least neither man actively opposed it.

And I also think it’s good policy which pushes corporations to spread out available jobs.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

Giddy-Up, Employers! The New Overtime Rule Is Comin’ In 2020

Starting in 2020, overtime rules are going to get a little more complicated. Brush up on the new overtime rule and start preparing your payroll before the new year begins.

www.forbes.com

• “Be paid on a salary basis
• “Earn at least the FLSA salary threshold ($35,568 per year starting in 2020)
• “Have executive, administrative, and professional job duties”

————————————————

And a lot of people don’t really know about the middle condition. Not only must you have managerial duties to be put on salary. But the salary must be above the threshold. Currently at 35 and 1/2 K.

Or else, you’re eligible for time-and-a-half for overtime.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

Interesting. Never knew that as I never had a salary-based pay. SO making above $35.6k salary means no overtime pay. Then what former pres. Obama was going to do was going to cost companies a lot more money from one standpoint, or benefit salaried employees from another standpoint. I don't really have a set view on this.

I would think if someone is getting a high enough salary, then they probably don't need overtime pay, but then again that doesn't mean you work them 100 hours/week either.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

I would think if someone is getting a high enough salary, then they probably don't need overtime pay, but then again that doesn't mean you work them 100 hours/week either.

and 100 hrs really should be jobs for 2 and 1/2 persons!

That kind of massive workload is a crisis situation, with the person probably being too busy to hire and train a new employee.

And I’m thinking, raising this “salary threshold” might be a better move than raising the minimum wage.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

This threshold keeps companies like Walmart or Domino’s Pizza or Starbucks from hiring assistant managers — paying them a skimpy salary — and then working them 60 hours a week.

I think this is a good law.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

Biden Labor Department moves to expand overtime pay for millions

Workers making less than about $55,000 annually would be automatically entitled to time-and-a-half pay under DOL’s proposal.

www.politico.com

August 30, 2023:

“Workers making less than about $55,000 annually would be automatically entitled to time-and-a-half pay under DOL’s proposal.”

Okay, it’s open to public comment and all, and it may be a while.

This article mentions President Obama in the 2nd paragraph, and President Trump in the 3rd? ! ?

Maybe they’re trying to compare Democratic president to Democratic president. Or, just forward chronological order.

But . . .

I’ve a little bit grown to see things through the eyes of my fellow sports bar patrons!

And yes, I think this Politico article should make more of an effort to be neutral between President Biden and President Trump.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

As I suspected, this is the opposition for raising the overtime pay salary threshold:

“Massive increases in labor costs like this simply cannot be absorbed by businesses,” the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity said in a statement. “It will reduce opportunities, especially for recent graduates and younger professionals hoping to begin their careers.”

This is one reason to be in favor for it:

“For over 80 years, a cornerstone of workers’ rights in this country is the right to a 40-hour workweek, the promise that you get to go home after 40 hours or you get higher pay for each extra hour that you spend laboring away from your loved ones,” acting Labor Secretary Julie Su said in a release. “Workers deserve to continue to share in the economic prosperity of Bidenomics.”

Both points from the Politico article...

My thinking is that not raising it at all, which is what employers would probably like they keep more money, is unreasonable and inconsiderate. Even if we say it's just business, we still have to have some standards. Obviously can't expect people to work for pennies because that would be impractical to make a living off of.

At the same time, I don't think the government should be raising it by too much either. Businesses also need to flourish, and use their cash flow to fund projects, to hire more people, to keep their lights on, etc.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

Even if we say it's just business, we still have to have some standards.

And that’s the way I look at this — as a minimum floor.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

U.S. middle-income adults declined from 61% in 1971 to 50% in 2011, but has held steady since then! !​

Hi, readers might remember that I’m impressed with this graph.

Over 50 years, the decline of the American middle class is less than a lot of people think it is. Even though stopping at 2021 is right at the cusp of including or not including Covid disruption.

Even though a lot of people’s lives experience has been different.

I say, Embrace the tension.

As is often the case, both the numbers and the lived experience can both be true, even if it might not seem that way at first.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

My point is, this salary threshold might be one of the best tools available to push corporations to spread out available jobs.

For every 2 assistant managers who are working 60 hours a week, that really should be 3 persons with jobs.