Statement from the U.S. Department of Labor on the Obey
Amendment to the FY 2005 Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill

WASHINGTON—Alfred B. Robinson, Jr., Acting Administrator for the Wage and Hour Division, the agency entrusted to enforce the overtime regulations in the U.S. Department of Labor, released the following statement regarding an amendment put forward by Congressman Obey (D-WI).

The amendment, adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the FY 2005 Labor-HHS appropriations bill, if enacted, prevents the Department of Labor from being able to “implement or administer any change to regulations regarding overtime compensation with exception of provisions raising the salary threshold from $8,060 to $23,660.”

“The Obey amendment puts the overtime rights of millions of workers in jeopardy by preventing the Department of Labor from enforcing the new rules which protect and strengthen these rights. Under the Obey amendment, workers who make more than $23,660 will be left to fend for themselves, having to hire expensive trial lawyers to defend their overtime pay.

“Especially hard-hit are police, fire fighters, construction workers and others whose overtime rights were explicitly guaranteed for the first time in the new rules. Whether intentionally or not, Congress has turned back the clock nearly 70 years on a fundamental worker protection.”

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.