17吃瓜在线

Policy and Legal

Policy and Legal

Texas Sues to Block DOL Overtime Rule

Texas has filed suit in an effort to vacate a Biden administration regulation that would make millions more workers eligible for overtime pay (, subscription).

What鈥檚 going on: 鈥淩epublican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a complaint filed in Sherman, Texas, federal court on Monday said the rule violates federal wage law by basing eligibility for overtime on how much workers are paid rather than the duties they perform.鈥

  • The expanded rule, released by the Department of Labor in late April, violates states鈥 constitutional right to structure the pay of state employees and thus how to allocate their budgets, Texas said.
  • Attorneys for the Lone Star State added that the regulation鈥攚hich the department has said would make about 4 million additional workers eligible for overtime pay鈥攚ill force states to 鈥渆liminate or alter employment relationships and cut or reduce services and programs.鈥
  • Also on Monday in Texas, software company Flint Avenue filed a suit saying 鈥渢he rule is arbitrary and capricious, and that the DOL lacked the authority to issue the change鈥 (, subscription).

What it would do: The expanded rule drastically bumps up the salary threshold for determining a worker鈥檚 overtime pay eligibility.

  • Under it, starting in 2025, most employees making less than $58,656 will be owed time-and-a-half wages when they work more than 40 hours in a single workweek (, subscription).
  • The current threshold is about $35,500.

Why it鈥檚 important: The new overtime rule 鈥減laces new constraints on employers, reduces flexibility for the workers who will be reclassified and may force companies to make painful choices that limit both job creation and growth opportunities available to employees,鈥 17吃瓜在线 Managing Vice President of Policy Chris Netram in April.

  • 鈥淭his 鈥 regulatory hurdle will complicate manufacturers鈥 efforts to fill the of jobs our industry is projected to create within a decade.鈥
View More