Overtime pay may become reality for more US workers

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 4 million U.S. workers will become newly eligible for overtime pay under rules to be issued Wednesday by the Obama administration.

The policy changes are intended to counter erosion in overtime protections, which date from the 1930s and require employers to pay 1 ½ times a worker's regular salary for any work past 40 hours a week.

Business groups, however, said the changes will increase paperwork and scheduling burdens for small companies and force many businesses to convert salaried workers to hourly ones in order to more closely track working time.

"With the stroke of a pen, the Labor Department is demoting millions of workers," David French, a senior vice president for the National Retail Federation, said.

Despite their titles, they have complained in lawsuits against chains such as Chipotle and Dollar General that they spend the vast majority of 50- or 60-hour weeks working cash registers, mopping floors, or performing other tasks typical of regular employees.

That's because employees eligible for overtime are only paid for the hours they work.

[...] an hourly worker "who takes an afternoon off to attend a parent-teacher conference will not be paid for that time, but an employee (who is exempt from overtime) will be paid her full guaranteed salary," she said in congressional testimony last week.