Robert Reich- One of the details to listen for in tonights State of the Union is where the President will set the salary level to qualify for overtime pay. He doesnt need Congress to do this. He can merely direct the Labor Department to make the adjustment. Almost everyone agrees the current threshold of $23,660 per year (just $455 a week) is absurdly low; its below the poverty level for a family of four. If adjusted for inflation since 1975, the threshold would be $51,168, covering 6.1 million additional workers. If adjusted to cover the same share of the workforce as it did in 1975, it would be $69,004, covering 10.4 million workers. This is a big deal, and the details matter. Between 1979 and 2013, productivity in America grew by 64.9 percent. But during that same time, the median workers (inflation-adjusted) hourly wage increased just 6.1 percent. One of the reasons paychecks havent kept pace with productivity is millions of workers have been working overtime and not getting paid for it. So listen carefully tonight.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 19:03:31 +0000
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