US Department of Labor will hold listening session for Midwest workers, advocates, union representatives on possible revisions to overtime regulations

CHICAGO ─ The U.S. Department of Labor is holding a series of listening sessions with employees and their stakeholders on possible revisions to the regulations that enforce the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime exemptions for executive, administrative and professional employees.

Since 1938, federal overtime regulations have been a cornerstone of the laws the department’s Wage and Hour Division enforces. These regulations protect workers and benefit workers and their families, their employers and the community at-large. The FLSA requires employers to pay most U.S. employees at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked, and overtime pay at not less than time and one-half the regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. 

 The law, however, provides an exemption from minimum wage and overtime pay for workers employed as “bona fide” executive, administrative or professional employees. In general, to be exempt, employees must meet certain tests regarding their job duties and be paid on a salary basis at not less than $684 per week.

“Our goal is to use these sessions to listen, engage workers and hear their perspectives on the possible impact of changes to the regulations,” explained Acting Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman. “As we consider the needs of today’s workforce and industry demands, we need public input to ensure that revisions to the overtime regulations fulfill the original intent and promise of the law.”

The division will hold a listening session for workers, employee stakeholders and union representatives in the Midwest as follows:

WHO:                         Employees, employee advocates and union representatives

WHEN:                      Wednesday, May 11, 2022, 6-7 p.m. CDT

WHERE:                    Register for the Midwest Workers Overtime Listening Session Registration