Small business owners have had a mostly positive reaction to a judge’s decision to strike down an overtime rule that would have qualified more workers for overtime pay.
On Nov. 15, a federal judge in Texas blocked a new rule from the Biden administration that would have expanded access to overtime pay to millions more salaried workers across the U.S. Nearly all hourly workers in the U.S. are entitled to overtime pay after 40 hours a week. But many salaried workers are exempt from that requirement—unless they earn below a certain level.
The now-scuttled rule would have marked the biggest increase to that cap in decades. As of July 1, employers were required to pay overtime to staffers who make $43,888 a year in certain executive, administrative and professional roles—and that would have risen to $58,656 a year as of Jan. 1. But now the previous threshold of $35,568—which was set in 2019 under the Trump administration—is back in effect.
The judge said the department could not prioritize employee wages over job duties when determining eligibility.
