6 Million Could Lose Overtime Pay, effective today

People identified as generally exempt from overtime pay include financial services industry workers, journalists, physician assistants, accountants, computer system analysts, programmers and software engineers. More jobs included in this group stated below.

Highlights of New Overtime Regulations
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: August 22, 2004

Highlights of the Labor Department's new overtime regulations taking effect Monday:

--Workers earning $23,660 annually or less are eligible for overtime pay for working more than 40 hours a week. The department says about 1.3 million workers will be newly eligible.

--White-collar workers earning $100,000 or more a year are newly exempt from overtime pay.

--Changes to duties that determine whether an employee is a professional, executive or administrative and exempt from overtime will result in ``very few, if any'' workers losing overtime, the Labor Department says. Critics disagree, saying 6 million could lose overtime.

--Union workers covered by contracts will not be affected by the change. Critics say changes will hurt future contract negotiations.

--Blue-collar workers are not affected.

--Police officers, firefighters and other public safety officers are not affected.

--People identified as generally exempt from overtime pay include pharmacists, funeral directors, embalmers, journalists, financial services industry workers, insurance claims adjusters, human resource managers, management consultants, executive and administrative assistants, purchasing agents, registered or certified medical technologists, dental hygienists, physician assistants, accountants, chefs, athletic trainers with degrees or specialized training, computer system analysts, programmers and software engineers.

Department officials say employers should determine eligibility on a case-by-case basis.

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Source: Labor Department