House votes to delay overtime pay rule

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would delay by six months the effective start date of the Department of Labor's (DOL's) new overtime regulations.

 

The new rule will require employers to pay overtime to salaried workers earning less than $47,500 a year, double the current threshold of $23,660. 

   

Five House Democrats joined 241 Republicans to support moving the rule's effective date from Dec. 1 to June 1.

  

The White House said that President Barack Obama would veto legislation delaying the rule. 

    

The Republican legislation also faces likely opposition by Senate Democrats who could block it from advancing.

 

"While this bill seeks to delay implementation, the real goal is clear -- delay and then deny overtime pay to workers," the White House said in a statement.

   

Opponents have also launched a legal challenge to the rule, Reuters reported, with Texas and 20 other states, as well as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, filing separate lawsuits in federal court in Texas last week claiming the U.S. Labor Department abused its authority with its drastic increase of the salary threshold.