Judge blocks Obama rule extending overtime pay to 4.2 million workers

[eppur_se_muova]

Source: Reuters

By Daniel Wiessner and Robert Iafolla

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked an Obama administration rule to extend mandatory overtime pay to more than 4 million workers from taking effect, imperiling one of the outgoing president's signature achievements for boosting wages.

U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant in Sherman, Texas, agreed with 21 states and a coalition of business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, that the rule is unlawful and granted their motion for a nationwide injunction. It was to take effect Dec. 1.

The rule would have doubled to $47,500 the maximum salary a worker can earn and still be eligible for mandatory overtime pay.

The states and business groups claimed in lawsuits filed in September that were later consolidated that the drastic increase in the salary threshold was arbitrary.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-employment-overtime-idUSKBN13H2JY

[guillaumeb]

1. The beginning of the rollback. eom

[yeoman6987]

13. This was a judge nominated by President Obama. WTF!

On June 26, 2014, President Obama nominated Mazzant to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

[guillaumeb]

21. Different legal opinions?

But no matter, my feeling is that all of President Obama's actions will be repealed or eliminated in the new Administration. Perhaps this will show the Stein voters that there really was a difference between the two candidates.

[groundloop]

2. No overtime for someone earning 40,000, but plenty of bonuses for those earning 4,000,000

Our ruling elite have this country so totally fucked up it makes me sick.

[DesertFlower]

3. this sucks. so many people depend

on overtime pay.

[DesertFlower]

4. my friend in NYC works as a paralegal/legal assistant.

he makes $53,000 a year. really doesn't want to work overtime, but with this law if asked to work he will probably say no and maybe lose his job.

do they get paid regular pay or does it mean they don't get 1-1/2 -- the usual overtime rate or do they just have to "donate" their time to the company.

[tammywammy]

6. If they raise the threshold he would refuse to work overtime?

Does he refuse to work overtime now?

[DesertFlower]

9. he tries to avoid it. he's 59 and

busts his ass on a 35 hour week. he left a job making $63,000 to cut his travel time almost in half. he hates working with lawyers too -- finds it a toxic environment.

[yallerdawg]

8. This is salaried "management" positions.

Now the "dollar stores" can continue to count on their $24,000 a year "manager" to work 70-80 hours a week to try to keep their jobs.

30 hours a week at $7.25 is the alternative.

[tammywammy]

10. Exempt means you don't have to be paid overtime period.

To be exempt the position must be certain characteristics (example - administrative) AND be above a salary threshold. Example with current threshold - restaurant manager making $30k/year meets the characteristics AND is above the threshold so no paid overtime. Restaurant manager making $19k/year means paid overtime.

If they increase the threshold then the restaurant manager making $30k will receive paid overtime.

Your friend is exempt, meaning the job and salary meet the requirements. His company isn't required to pay him overtime anyway. His status as exempt doesn't change at all even if the threshold is raised. Now his company could decide to eliminate straight time pay for overtime for exempt employees, but that's a company decision not based on federal laws or rules. For instance, I'm an exempt employee also not effected by the raised threshold. I have a 5 hour gate before I receive straight time paid overtime. If I work 42 hours - nothing extra, 46 hours - 1 hour at straight time rate. This is a company decision. They don't have to pay overtime at all.

[DesertFlower]

15. why would he be exempt? he got overtime pay at his last job which

paid $10,000 a year more. i don't know if it was regular time or 1-1/2 times.

when i worked as legal secretary back in '88 (NYC) i made $28,000 for a 35 hour week. anything after 35 hours was paid at 1-1/2 -- double time on sundays and triple on holidays. i also got a limo home after 7pm and had 4 weeks vacation and 10 sick days, etc.

even though he's a paralegel he also does regular secretarial work.

[tammywammy]

16. I don't know if paralegal is an exempt or not classified position.

I assumed so based on your previous posts since I'm not familiar with what a paralegal does. So if it's non-exempt a refusal to work overtime if the threshold is increased makes even less sense. If he's non-exempt now increasing the salary threshold to be exempt doesn't effect him whatsoever.

Your references to being paid overtime for more than 35 hours is a company policy. Federal law requires time and a half only for non-exempt employees over 40 hours, though states can have additional requirements (example, California you get overtime for any hours over 8 in a work day).

So to recap. If he's making $53k and non-exempt now a change in the threshold like Obama proposed wouldn't effect him.

[DesertFlower]

17. a paralegel used to be just that. they worked

closely with lawyers doing research, etc. i think you had to go to school for it. somewhere in my friend's long career he learned that skill which has made it easier for him to find work as a legal secretary. many male lawyers still prefer a woman as a secretary.

not that many years ago a legal secretary could make as much as $85,000 a year and work for 1 or 2 lawyers. now they have to work for 4 to 6 lawyers.

35 hours was the policy of the law firm i worked for. most companies pay overtime after 40 hours.

[cstanleytech]

5. IF their lawsuit fails yet Trump decides to overturn this as well then maybe people will wake up to

the fact that Trump nor the GOP are working for the American people.

[ananda]

7. And this guy was appointed by Obama.

Words fail.

[LenaBaby61]

11. Probably ...

One of those judges that would pass through the Senate because he was right of center

Pretty sure tRump will be appointing judges to the Federal Courts who admit that they're racist POS. I mean, whose there to stop him

[Judi Lynn]

12. If one of them had secret "moral" objections to evil, the Republican party would get rid of him. n/t

[LisaL]

18. As far as I can tell, judge is republican.

Obama, in his ultimate wisdom, was trying to be bi-partisan.
"Mazzant ran for the Republican nomination for 15th District Judge in Grayson County in the March primary, but lost by less than 100 votes."
http://www.kxii.com/home/headlines/880942.html

[atreides1]

19. But remember

Judges nominated to the federal bench have to have the support of the two senators from the state where they will be assigned!

That means that the choice of Mazzant was okayed by Cornyn and Cruz!

[hollowdweller]

14. Dems should introduce legislation to make this rule law.

They need to be making a big deal of it and how the republicans ran on how they were going to raise people's standard of living but they want to vote to lower their pay.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

20. Link to the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division

Look here for the latest developments.

Wage and Hour Division (WHD) Final Rule: Overtime

ETA: this is my first post since coming back.

[eppur_se_muova]

22. Welcome back ! nt

[mahatmakanejeeves]

23. Restaurants cheer court block of Obama's overtime rule

Restaurants cheer court block of Obama's overtime rule

By Helena Bottemiller Evich | 11/23/16 10:00 AM EST

With help from Jason Huffman, Doug Palmer, Annie Snider, Jenny Hopkinson and Catherine Boudreau

RESTAURANTS CHEER COURT BLOCK OF OBAMA’S OT RULE: Chain restaurants joined a chorus of GOP lawmakers and many in the small business community in hailing a Texas federal judge’s decision Tuesday to issue a preliminary injunction halting a Labor Department rule that would have expanded overtime pay as of next week. President Barack Obama’s signature wage intervention, which had been set to kick in Dec. 1, would double — to $47,476 — the salary threshold under which virtually all workers receive time-and-a-half pay whenever they work more than 40 hours in a given week. It was intended to restore overtime pay to millions of middle class workers after years of erosion reduced the perk to one enjoyed only by low-income earners, but the GOP and many in the business community, restaurant industry leaders among them, argued it would be prohibitively expensive.

[Efilroft Sul]

24. Federal judge to American workers: Drop dead.