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A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 12 december 2019

Washington state OKs some of the nation's toughest OT rules

By GENE JOHNSON by 2028. The rules will phase
Associated Press in more slowly for business-
SEATTLE (AP) — Washington es with fewer than 50 em-
state is adopting some of ployees.
the nation's most aggres- The department estimates
sive overtime rules, restoring that by the time they are
protections for hundreds of fully implemented, the new
thousands of salaried work- rules will give overtime pro-
ers and taking what sup- tections to about 260,000
porters say is a crucial step workers who don't have
toward rebuilding the mid- them and strengthen over-
dle class. time protections for about
The Department of Labor 235,000 others. Affected
and Industries finalized the workers will also become
rules Wednesday and will eligible for sick leave and
phase them in by 2028. By retaliation protections.
that time, salaried work- Under the new rules, that
ers making up to about Washington state Labor and Industries Director Joel Sacks, left, and Deputy Director Elizabeth worker will be paid over-
$83,400 a year will be enti- Smith talk about new overtimes rules during a news conference Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019, in time for the additional
tled to time-and-a-half pay Tukwila, Wash. hours, or the business will
if they work more than 40 Associated Press need to hire additional
hours per week. staff. Among those who
Workers making more than under federal law, or more Michigan and Massachu- nesses and that they could might be helped is Vic-
that could also get over- where state laws are more setts, have recently up- particularly hurt nonprofits. tor Duran, a co-manager
time unless they are cer- generous. dated or started to up- The organization said many of a sports apparel store
tain types of professionals Those thresholds may have date their overtime rules, businesses might convert south of Seattle. He said
— such as those with higher worked decades ago, but none have adopted salaried workers to hourly he makes about $52,000 a
degrees — or unless they when they meant that a target threshold as high ones, reducing scheduling year and doesn't get over-
are truly managers or exec- nearly two-thirds of salaried as Washington's, said Paul flexibility. time, but is required to work
utives, as demonstrated by workers nationally were Sonn, state policy program After hearing extensive at least 45 hours per week
their ability to hire and fire, covered by overtime pro- director with the National public comment, the de- — and up to 60 during the
direct other people's work tections. But after a reces- Employment Law Project. partment added two years holidays.
or make significant business sion in the 1970s, lawmak- The rules adopted by the to the phase-in period. The "We say bye to the fam-
decisions. ers largely stopped updat- Trump administration will threshold will increase in- ily at the beginning of the
Many job categories will ing them. Washington's raise the threshold to cov- crementally until it reach- season and say we'll see
be affected, including shift has been stuck at $13,000 er workers making up to es 2.5 times the minimum them after Christmas," Du-
managers at restaurants since 1976. As people's $35,308 a year — a signifi- wage — about $83,400 — ran said.q
and retail establishments, salaries rose with inflation, cant cut from the $47,000
office managers, some they found themselves no limit proposed by the
medical workers and other longer eligible for overtime. Obama administration.
white-collar staff, officials Businesses have also been "The overtime threshold is
said. able to convert hourly to the middle class as the
"We need to make sure the workers into salaried ones minimum wage is to low-
middle class shares in our who make just more than wage workers," said Nick
state's prosperity," Washing- the threshold as a way to Hanauer, a Seattle venture
ton Gov. Jay Inslee said in avoid hiring additional staff capitalist whose think tank,
a news release. "Overtime or paying overtime. Civic Ventures, advocates
protections ensure work- In other cases, workers for progressive economic
ers are fairly compensated have been classified as policies. "It is the indispens-
when they work more than managers when their ac- able labor protection for
40 hours in a given week — tual duties more closely middle class people."
time that would otherwise resemble those of hourly Business groups in Wash-
be spent with their families workers, officials said. ington have agreed that
and in their communities." By some estimates, as few the state's rules needed to
Employees who are paid as 7% of salaried workers be updated, but they criti-
hourly have long been en- across the country are now cized the plans as drastic.
titled to overtime. But sala- entitled to overtime. The Association of Washing-
ried workers have generally The federal government ton Business warned when
been entitled to it only if and several states, includ- the proposed rules came
they make less than a cer- ing California, New York, out in June that they would
tain amount: about $23,660 Pennsylvania, Colorado, be a shock to many busi-