But that threshold will almost double under the new rule, and workers making up to $47,476 a year will be eligible for overtime after 40 hours of work in a week.
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Paxton and Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt spearheaded the states’ lawsuit, which was joined by Michigan, Wisconsin and OH, among other states.
The rule, set to go into effect December 1, doubles the salary threshold under which workers qualify for overtime pay, from $455 per week to $913 per week.
Twenty-one states Tuesday filed suit challenging new federal rules on overtime pay, saying they fail to take into account congressional intent, pose an undue burden on businesses and threaten to drain state budgets. Many employers have complained it will drive up their costs and cause them to cut workers’ hours, slow hiring of full-time staff and turn salaried workers into hourly employees.
“Not only is the DOL overreaching its authority by implementing the rule, but the rule itself increased the salary threshold to be excessively burdensome”, said IWLA president and CEO, Steve DeHaan.
The states are asking a federal judge in Texas to block the rule from taking effect.
The overtime pay rule changes the salary threshold for those who are exempt from receiving mandatory overtime pay.
The Department of Labor says the new rule would increase the number of workers eligible for overtime when they work more than 40 hours per week.
Other states that have signed on to the complaint include: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.
The Obama administration said the new rule was a long-overdue update of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which went into effect in 1938 and hasn’t “kept up with our modern economy”.
Labor Department officials did not immediately respond to telephone and emailed requests seeking comment. The threshold is roughly double the current benchmark and would be adjusted every three years – meaning more workers will qualify for overtime pay.
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“Once again, President Obama is trying to unilaterally rewrite the law”, Texas Attorney General Paxton said. The Department of Labor’s new “overtime rule” is at the center of the latest suit. Some governments and private businesses may even be forced to eliminate services or lay off employees.
