Proposals to update the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, have drawn heavy criticism from Americans who fear they will lose their overtime pay. The new proposal would reclassify a greater number of workers as executive workers, thus making them exempt from overtime pay. The Labor Department has been flooded with letters from workers who claim that they depend on overtime pay to provide for themselves and their families. However, many businesses have written in support of the new proposals, which they claim were in need of updating for some time.
See "Overtime Plan Draws Angry Letters", Kirstin Downey, The Washington Post, July 28, 2003