Here's who will benefit the most from Obama's sweeping new overtime rules
The White House announced on Wednesday the final version of a new Department of Labor rule that would more than double the income threshold for overtime eligibility for salaried workers from about $23,660 to $47,476.
Last year, when a draft of the rule was initially announced, the White House released an analysis of who would benefit most from that overtime expansion.
Larger proportions of southern workforces would become eligible for overtime than in other regions. The state with the largest percentage of workers affected by the new rule was Oklahoma, where the administration estimates that 4.4% of workers will now be eligible for overtime.
Still, nearly one-quarter of workers who appear to benefit from the new rule are from the big three states of California, Texas, and Florida:
The new rule would also affect a larger proportion of younger workers than older workers, with nearly one in 20 25- to 34-year-olds becoming eligible for overtime. Given the rule's emphasis on salaried, white-collar workers, it's not overly surprising that that a larger proportion of workers with at least a bachelor's degree are affected than workers with less education. Women are more likely than men to be affected by the new rule:
Overall, the proposal will extend overtime pay to nearly 5 million workers within the first year of its implementation. The rule is long awaited, after President Barack Obama directed Labor Secretary Thomas Perez to figure out a plan to update overtime regulations.
"We're making more workers eligible for the overtime that you've earned," Obama said in a speech last July. "And it's one of the single most important steps we can take to help grow middle-class wages."