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US states sue to block expansion of overtime pay law

The Topeka Capital-Journal reported the rule goes into effect in December and will affect about 550 state employees in the executive and judicial branches who aren’t now entitled to overtime pay.

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Attorney General Scott Pruitt announced Tuesday that Oklahoma has joined 20 other states in filing a complaint in federal court challenging the The United States Department of Labor’s new overtime rule.

The lawsuit against the DOl’s ruling urges the court to prevent the implementation of the rule before it takes effect.

The twenty-one state coalition argues that without valid congressional authorization to do so, the president took illegal action in directing the U-S Department of Labor to simplify the overtime rule to more than double the salary threshold for a worker to be entitled to overtime. “Some may be forced to eliminate some services and even lay off employees”. Business groups say the rule will force employers to demote salaried workers to hourly positions and create more part-time jobs. The new overtime rule contains a provision to automatically increase the threshold every three years without going through the standard rule-making process.

“This rule, coupled with referendum questions to dramatically increase the minimum wage and impose a 10.13% income tax on successful Mainers, demonstrates the Democrats at the state and national level are doing everything they can to put people out of work”, the governor said.

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Led by Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt, Rutledge is joined on the complaint by attorneys general from Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.

Texas Joins New Lawsuit Challenging Obama Administration's New “Overtime Rule”