President Biden is extending overtime protections to 1 million workers who make less than the median individual salary and is vowing to take more action if reelected.
The executive action announced Monday will extend protections to workers making less than $43,888 per year, the White House said in a statement.
“That means higher paychecks and more time with family for millions of Americans,” Biden said.
The president pledged to extend the protections further next year if Democrats hold onto the White House, boosting overtime benefits to 3 million additional workers with an increased threshold of $58,656 — an amount that goes above the median individual salary of $47,960, as specified in Census data.
The rule change from Democrats is set to increase every three years starting in 2025, acting Labor Secretary Julie Su said in a statement.
Low-income workers saw their wages rise faster in the aftermath of the pandemic than the national average, a phenomenon known as “wage compression” that gave workers more freedom and was first identified by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Massachusetts.
