US Sen. Sherrod Brown joins colleagues to extend OT pay to millions of Americans

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, today joined his Senate colleagues in urging the U.S. Department of Labor to extend overtime pay to millions of Americans who are working long hours without fair pay.

Last year, at Brown’s urging, DOL proposed an expansion to overtime pay protections that could benefit five million Americans, including 160,000 Ohioans. The proposal would bring overtime pay to salaried workers making up to approximately $50,440.

Currently, workers making only $23,660 or less qualify for overtime, and that threshold hasn’t been meaningfully updated since the 1970s.

In a letter to Labor Secretary Tom Perez, Brown called on the agency to move quickly to finalize the overtime pay proposal, adding that while the cost of education, childcare, and retirement have risen, wages have remained virtually unchanged.