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OPA News Release: [05/03/2004]
Contact Name: Pamela Groover
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676

New Department of Labor Overtime Rule Guarantees Overtime Pay to Licensed Practical Nurses, Says Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao

Secretary of Labor visits Florida Community College at Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today joined nursing students at Florida Community College at Jacksonville, North Campus, to highlight the benefits of the Department of Labor’s new overtime rule for the nursing community. Under the new Overtime Security rule, all Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN’s) are now guaranteed overtime pay.

“For the first time in history, the Department of Labor’s new Overtime Security rule expressly states that Licensed Practical Nurses are entitled to overtime,” said Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao. “And it makes clear that Registered Nurses (RN’s) who currently receive overtime will continue to receive overtime when the new rule takes effect.”

Under the new overtime rule, RN’s making up to $23,660 annually are guaranteed overtime pay, as are those who are paid on an hourly basis or receive overtime as part of a collective bargaining agreement. For RN’s making more than $23,660 there is no change to the current law regarding their overtime pay.

The new rules also strengthen overtime protection for 6.7 million workers. The rule expressly guarantees overtime to any worker who is paid on an hourly basis, as well as all blue-collar workers such as construction and factory workers. The overtime rights of police, firefighters and other first responders are expanded under the new rules. And white-collar salaried workers earning up to $23,660 are now all guaranteed overtime pay protections. For white-collar workers earning more than $23,660, the new rules are equally or more protective of overtime rights than the existing regulations.

The new rules expand the number of workers eligible for overtime by nearly tripling the salary threshold. Under the 50-year-old regulations, only workers earning less than $8,060 annually were guaranteed overtime. Under the new rules workers earning $23,660 or less are guaranteed overtime. Workers will gain up to $375 million in additional earnings each year.

“The new rule announced last week updates and clarifies the current regulations, so that America’s nurses can spend their time healing and not having to hire lawyers to resort to lengthy court battles,” said Secretary Chao. “By reducing the number of unnecessary lawsuits, resources that were absorbed by these lawsuits can be better tapped to create more nursing jobs.”

The Department’s new FairPay rule will take effect on August 23,2004. It is published in the Federal Register and a text version is available online at www.dol.gov/fairpay. For further information about the Fair Labor Standards Act, visit the Department’s Wage and Hour Division web page at www.dol.gov.

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