New Overtime Rules Take Effect Today
Monday, August 23rd, 2004 Risk ManagementPaychecks could surge or shrink for workers across the country starting today, when sweeping changes to the nation‘s overtime pay rules take effect. The major overhaul, the first in more than half a century, is aimed at mostly white-collar workers. The Labor Department says manual laborers and other blue-collar workers will not be affected. The new rules are intended to limit workers‘ multimillion-dollar lawsuits, many of them successful, claiming they were cheated of overtime pay for working more than 40 hours a week. Retailers, restaurants, insurance firms and banks have been targets, and jobs in those places are generally exempt from overtime in the new rules. They include chefs, pharmacists, funeral directors, embalmers, journalists, insurance claims adjusters, low- and midlevel bank managers and dental hygienists.
