Federal judge blocks new Labor Department rules expanding overtime pay
A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday blocked new Department of Labor rules that would have expanded the number of workers eligible for overtime pay.
U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant granted a preliminary injunction in combined lawsuits filed 21 states and business groups, report the National Law Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post. The rule, scheduled to take effect on Dec. 1, would have allowed salaried workers making up to $47,476 to be eligible for time-and-a-half overtime pay after working 40 hours a week.
Currently, nonexempt employees making less than $23,660 are eligible for overtime pay.
Mazzant said the U.S. Department of Labor didn’t have statutory authority to set a salary threshold or to automatically update the amount.
The Labor Department said it was “considering all of our legal options.”
