Advocacy Blog_ABC_Keystone

This week, Governor Tom Wolf announced his plans to follow up on an expired plan by the Obama administration in 2016 to extend mandatory overtime pay to salaried employees.  Currently, salaried employees who are eligible for overtime pay are evaluated on the federal threshold for compensation, which is $23,660 annually.  The federal rule, which was proposed in 2016 by the U.S. Department of Labor, would have extended mandatory overtime pay to employees making $47,476 or less annually.  The rule, which was set to go into effect in December of 2016, was challenged by several business groups and the rule was eventually abandoned under the Trump administration.

The new state rule would gradually increase salary thresholds to ensure that employees making $47,892 would be eligible for the benefit by 2022.  The Pennsylvania Department of Labor plans to announce final plans for the rule by March of 2018, with a mandatory comment period to follow.  The entire implementation process, which is overseen by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC), could take up to a year.  IRRC must also weigh the final rule in vote by the board, which is a 3-2 Democratic majority.