Catherwood LibraryILR School

The Obama-era Labor Department’s rule which significantly increased the maximum salary a worker could earn to qualify for overtime pay for all hours above 40 hours per week was just eradicated by Judge Amos Mazzant of Texas. Mazzant claimed that the Labor Department overstepped its boundaries in essentially doubling the maximum salary. While the Obama administration’s purpose behind this rule was to help prevent wage stagnation and inflation dulled the effect of the change, leaders in the business world and Republican politicians feel that this was an undue hardship to impose on employers as the costs of overtime would allegedly soar, possibly leading to job cuts. This decision has led to questions of the extent of the DOL’s ability to make these changes in policy and of the legitimacy of Mazzant’s motives behind his ruling due to his rejection of the Texas AFL-CIO’s request to involve itself in defending the rule and his controversial reasoning in this case.