That new rule from President Obama's Labor Department that will give as many as five million workers a raise in the form of overtime pay is coming as early as the end of the month.
WASHINGTON -- Let's say you're an assistant manager of a fast-food joint. You make a $40,000 yearly salary and put in 45 or 50 hours a week.
Say "thank you, President Obama," because you're probably going to get more take-home pay soon, courtesy of Obama's Department of Labor. Thanks to a federal rule that could come out in little more than a week, your boss will have to pay you overtime or else increase your salary to just north of $50,000.
"This is an issue of basic fairness," Obama said when announcing the proposal "If you work longer and harder, you deserve to be paid for it."
It's absolutely an issue of basic fairness. Don't expect the fast-food industry to agree. "It may mean that we and those in our industry would be forced to consider reducing hours, eliminating positions, and increasing automation in the workplace," says Mary A. Schell, senior vice president of public affairs at Wendy's. By that, she must mean having managers work just the 40 hours her chain is willing to pay them for. How awful for the employee, not to have to work an extra ten hours a week without extra pay.
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor "estimates 5 million will see higher take-home pay under its rule, and another 10 million will have stronger wage rights, some because they are not properly classified now." That's a big deal.