Taking Action to Reward Hard Work

Fulfilling the "opportunity agenda" in his State of the Union address, President Obama signed a memorandum on March 13 that begins the process of updating the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime rules. "Overtime is a pretty simple idea," the president said at a White House signing ceremony. "If you have to work more, you should get paid more." He directed U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez to update the overtime rules and to consult with businesses and workers during the process. In some cases, the president said, the federal rule originally designed to limit overtime for highly paid employees now covers workers earning as little as $23,000 a year. "It doesn't make sense that in some cases this rule actually makes it possible for salaried workers to be paid less than the minimum wage," the president said. "It's not right when business owners who treat their employees fairly can be undercut by competitors who aren't treating their employees right. If you're working hard, you're barely making ends meet, you should be paid overtime. Period."