WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01) – a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor and an electrician by trade – today issued the following statement after the Trump Administration’s Department of Labor (DOL) published a final rule regarding the overtime salary threshold, providing less overtime pay to fewer people than the proposal advanced by the Obama Administration:

“President Trump reversed a good policy and took away money from 8.2 million middle-class workers today. That’s cruel,” said Congressman Norcross. “Currently, Americans with modest salaries are working unlimited hours with limited salaries. While President Obama set out to raise the threshold, today, thanks to Trump, millions will remain uncompensated for their labor.”

The final rule from the DOL only raises the overtime salary threshold to $35,568 from $23,660. Under the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA), hourly workers and salaried workers who earn below a salary threshold set by the DOL are automatically eligible for overtime pay of one-and-a-half times their regular rate of pay for any hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

Norcross added: “In addition to this money grab from middle class workers, Trump and Senate Republicans refuse to vote on the Raise the Wage Act, the bill I sponsored and the House passed, to responsibly raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, or the Paycheck Fairness Act to ensure women receive equal pay for equal work. Instead, they chose to push a $2.3 trillion tax scam where 83% of the benefits went to the top 1% and working families will pay the bill. While Americans deserve a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work, Trump is offering low pay for long work.”

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Contact: Ally Kehoe, Communications Director
ally.kehoe@mail.house.gov