Pennsylvania employers would be required to pay overtime wages to an additional 460,000 workers under newly proposed regulations.

PHILADELPHIA, PA, January 17, 2018 – State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione applauded today’s announcement by Gov. Tom Wolf of a proposal to modernize Pennsylvania’s overtime regulations to ensure that nearly a half-million salaried employees receive appropriate compensation when they work more than 40 hours per week.

The governor’s proposal would update Pennsylvania’s overtime rules for the first time in more than 40 years and would raise the threshold for mandatory overtime pay to include most salaried workers who earn up to $47,892 annually. Under current regulations, salaried workers earning more than $23,660 are not guaranteed overtime pay. The changes would extend eligibility for mandatory overtime pay to an additional 460,000 Pennsylvania workers over four years.

“This measure is a tremendous step forward for Pennsylvania workers and it’s long overdue,” Tartaglione, minority chair of the Senate’s Labor & Industry Committee, said. “It’s unconscionable that in 2018, workers who make less than the federal poverty level for a family of four could be deprived of overtime earnings when they spend extra time on the job. I look forward to the application of these new rules and will continue fighting to raise the minimum wage, which Pennsylvania hasn’t done in almost a decade, and to enact laws that protect Pennsylvania workers on a multitude of issues.”

Under the governor’s proposal, employers would be required to pay overtime at time-and-a-half the employee’s hourly rate. The new rules would raise the salary threshold incrementally over three years starting at $31,720 per year ($610 per week) in 2020, $39,832 ($766) in 2021 and $47,892 ($921) in 2022. As part of the state’s regulation change process, the Department of Labor & Industry expects to present the proposal for public comments in March.

Pennsylvania last updated its overtime regulations in 1977, when the $23,660 threshold for exemption was established. At the time, the exemption was meant to apply to high-wage white-collar employees, but the salary threshold has not been increased to keep pace with inflation.

After 2022, the salary threshold would be updated automatically every three years under the governor’s proposal.

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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact William Kenny at 215-533-0440 or email at William.Kenny@pasenate.com.