Companies will pay more wages as overtime rules go into effect Jan 1

After more than three years of debate, negotiation and lawsuits, the U.S. Department of Labor’s new mandatory overtime pay rules go into effect Jan. 1. The rule extends overtime pay to an estimated 1.3 million U.S. workers.

Under previous rules, workers who earn a salary instead of an hourly wage are entitled to overtime pay if they earn less than $23,660 a year. The new rule raises the threshold to $35,568, below the threshold of $47,000 first introduced in 2016 under the Obama administration. Workers who are not exempt must receive at least one and a half times their regular pay after working 40 hours a week. Salaried employees who make less than a…