Kentucky and 21 other states have filed a complaint in federal court challenging the United States Department of Labor’s new overtime rule.
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Wisconsin and 20 other states are suing the federal government over new rules that will make many more white-collar workers eligible for overtime.
“The numerous crippling federal regulations that the Obama administration has imposed on businesses in this country have been bad enough”, Paxton said.
Raise the salary threshold indicating eligibility from $455/week to $913 ($47,476 per year), ensuring protections to 4.2 million workers (including an estimated 370,000 in Texas).
Among other things, the lawsuit alleges the mechanism in the rule that will automatically increase the overtime threshold every three years was finalized without going through a rule-making process that plaintiffs contend is required by law.
The overtime rules implemented by the Obama administration are scheduled to take effect December 1.
In the lawsuit filed yesterday, the 21 states specifically allege that the new rule changes violate the Tenth Amendment by mandating how state employees are paid.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez, who accompanied Biden to Columbus when the rule was announced, said Tuesday he was confident in the legality of the rule, describing the lawsuits as partisan, obstructionist tactics. Under the shift, an estimated 4.2 million more workers across the US would be eligible for overtime pay. It doubles the salary-level threshold for employees to be exempt from overtime, regardless of whether if they perform executive, administrative, or professional duties.
In their suit, the states portray the rule as a plot to drain their treasuries and force them to bend to the federal government’s will. Currently, only 7 percent of workers are eligible for overtime; the new rule will push that figure to 35 percent.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry says the new rule would hurt the Louisiana workforce in the education, retail, government, health, hospitality, and professional service industries.
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If all of those too discouraged to find work, and those working part-time who want to work full-time, were to be counted as “unemployed”, the true rate (U-6 measurement by BLS) of joblessness would approach 10%.
