Statement of Jocelyn Frye, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families

WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 23, 2024 – Today, the Biden administration published a final rule to support higher pay and better work-family balance for workers by strengthening protections to ensure more workers are eligible for overtime pay. Effective on July 1, 2024, the threshold determining which salaried workers are automatically eligible for overtime pay will rise from $684 per week to $844 per week and up to $1,128 per week effective January 1, 2025. This long overdue rule provides additional protections for 2.4 million women workers who are overrepresented in low-paid jobs and working long hours for often near poverty wages. These women have been essentially working extra hours for free without receiving overtime pay. Additionally, the threshold will automatically update every three years, ensuring that the strength of these protections does not erode over time. Women of color and disabled women, in particular, are disproportionately likely to hold lower paying jobs in critical industries like health care and social services as a result of longstanding, systemic gender, racial and disability injustice. Jocelyn C. Frye, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families, released the following statement:

“This rule helps end blatant worker exploitation and will help restore basic fairness to our nation’s workplaces by updating wage and hour protections that have been eroded for decades. It is a sorely needed economic lifeline that would improve economic security for millions of working women who need it most.

The National Partnership commends the Department of Labor (DOL) for finally raising the overtime earnings threshold and raising wages for millions of low-paid women workers, whose time has historically been devalued. By reinforcing the value of a 40-hour workweek, the administration has strengthened the financial stability of working families and affirmed that workers deserve to be paid for all of their work or have more time for themselves and their family – especially as many workers juggle additional caregiving responsibilities. The National Partnership looks forward to continuing our work with the administration to increase the salary threshold – an action that will help improve the economy and strengthen the workforce.”

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