Longer Hours, Less Pay: Labor Department's New Rules Could Strip Overtime Protection from Millions of Workers

Publication Date: July 2004

Publisher: Economic Policy Institute

Author(s): Ross Eisenbrey

Research Area: Labor

Type: Brief

Abstract:

On April 23, 2004 the Department of Labor (DOL) published regulatory changes that, if they are allowed to take effect, could strip away the right to overtime pay for over six million workers. The original version of these rules, proposed by the Bush Administration in March 2003, would have stripped overtime protection from eight million workers. In the face of widespread public opposition, the administration promised that its final version of the rules would correct this problem, a promise it has failed to keep.