[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 21, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5180-S5181]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              OVERTIME PAY

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I believe that real, long-term economic 
growth is built from the middle out, not from the top down. Our 
government, our economy, and our workplaces should work for all of our 
families, not just the wealthiest few. But across the country today, 
millions of workers are working harder than ever without basic overtime 
protection.
  That is why I am so proud to come to the floor today to express my 
strong support for the Obama administration's new proposal to restore 
overtime protections for millions of workers and families. Not only is 
this the right thing to do, but it is good for our economy.
  I wish to share a story of a man named Paul who lives in 
Massachusetts. As reported in the Boston Globe, Paul worked very hard 
at a discount retail store to provide for his family. Each week he was 
working 72 hours, on average. On one particular stretch, he worked for 
40 days in a row without a single day off, but his employer didn't pay 
him one extra dime for the work he did beyond 40 hours a week.
  That is fundamentally unfair. And Paul, believe me, is not alone. 
There are so many workers like him in States across the country, and 
these workers feel as though they have been left behind in this 
economic recovery. They need government policies on overtime 
protections to catch up.
  In 1938, Congress recognized the need to set a standard for the 40-
hour workweek. By law, when workers put in more than 40 hours a week, 
their employers had to compensate them fairly with time-and-a-half pay. 
But those protections have eroded over the past several years. In 
today's economy, many Americans feel as though they are working more 
and more for less and less pay, and in many cases, they are. A salaried 
worker can be asked to work 50 or 60 or 70 hours a week and never see a 
dime of overtime pay. One of the main reasons is because overtime rules 
are severely out of date.
  Right now, if a worker earns just a little more than $23,000 a year, 
he or she does not qualify for time-and-a-half pay. That salary 
threshold is much too low today. In fact, the current salary level is 
less than the poverty threshold for a family of four. Workers should 
not have to earn poverty wages to get guaranteed overtime protection. 
That salary threshold has only been updated once since 1975.
  Back in the mid-1970s, 62 percent of the American workforce was 
covered by overtime rules. Today, just 8 percent of our salaried 
workers have overtime protection, and big corporations have used these 
outdated overtime rules to their advantage. They force their employees 
to work overtime without paying them fair time-and-a-half pay. That, of 
course, is good for a big corporation's profit margin. But as the 
Union-Bulletin in Walla Walla, WA, editorialized a few weeks back, 
these workers are ``working, paying taxes, raising families, and often 
suffering due to the long hours.''
  But unlike so many of the challenges we face here, there is a 
solution to this, and it doesn't require congressional action. Last 
week, the Department of Labor proposed to raise the salary threshold 
from about $23,000, which is what it is today, to just over $50,000 a 
year. That will restore overtime protections for millions of Americans.
  This, by the way, is especially important for parents. Think about 
what this would mean for a working mom who right now works overtime 
without getting paid for it. By restoring this basic worker protection, 
she can finally work a 40-hour workweek and spend more time with her 
kids. Or, if her employer asks her to work more than 40 hours a week, 
she would have more money in her pocket to boost her family's economic 
security. That is so important for strengthening our middle class 
today.
  Now, I do want to keep working to improve the proposed rule. I 
believe the Department of Labor should also update what is known as the 
duties test. For workers who make more than the salary threshold but 
still do what is called blue collar work, the duties test is designed 
to ensure that they get overtime protections. But today that duties 
test is out of date.
  Under the current law, big corporations can exploit the duties test 
to avoid paying their workers time-and-a-half, and I believe that needs 
to change. When workers put in more

[[Page S5181]]

than 40 hours a week on the job, they should be paid fairly for it. 
That is just the bottom line.
  I have heard from some of my Republican colleagues that they do not 
want to update overtime rules. But if the Republicans want to take away 
this basic worker protection--basic worker protection--they are going 
to have to answer to millions of hard-working Americans who are putting 
in overtime without receiving a dime in extra pay. They can try, but I 
know I and many others are going to be right here fighting back for the 
workers and families we represent.
  Boosting wages and expanding economic stability and security is good 
for families, and it is good for our economy. And, by the way, that is 
exactly what we should be focused on here in Congress--to help grow our 
economy from the middle out, not just the top down.
  This isn't the only action we need to take to raise wages and expand 
economic stability for our families today. In the coming weeks and 
months, I am going to be working closely with Senate Democrats to 
continue our efforts to raise the minimum wage, to expand access to 
paid sick leave and fair and predictable work schedules, and to ensure 
women get equal pay for equal work.
  But restoring overtime protections is a critical part of our work to 
make sure more families get much needed economic stability. Enacting 
these policies would be strong steps in the right direction to bring 
back the American dream of economic security and a stable middle-class 
life for millions of families.
  For workers such as Paul, who just want fair pay for a fair day's 
work, for the parents who have sacrificed family time for overtime and 
not seen a dime in extra pay, and for families who are looking for some 
much needed economic security, I urge all of my colleagues to support 
restoring overtime protections.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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