Rep. Kaptur Hails Proposal to Extend Overtime Pay to Additional 160,000 Hardworking Ohioans

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) voiced strong support today for a proposal from the Department of Labor (DOL) to extend overtime pay protections to 4,680,000 American workers, including 160,000 workers in Ohio. The DOL proposal would guarantee overtime pay to most salaried workers earning less than $50,440 per year.

“Thousands of workers across Ohio put in extra hours on the job to support their families and deliver for their employers, but their wages don’t reflect that,” said Rep. Kaptur. “Rewarding productive hard work with better pay has been a driving force in the American economy for more than a century. This proposal by the Department of Labor would mean that a long day’s work finally earns a fair day’s pay for thousands of Ohioans and millions of Americans.”

The U.S. salary threshold for overtime pay has been changed only twice in the last 40 years. Due to inflation, it covers fewer workers every year. Today, only workers making less than $23,660 per year for a 40 hour work week – a wage below the poverty line for a family of four – are guaranteed overtime pay.

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