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News release

How Will Raising the Threshold for Overtime Pay Help Working Women?

August 7, 2015
Workplace Justice

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

Institute for Women’s Policy Research and MomsRising to Release Joint Report on How Proposed Rule to Raise the Threshold for Overtime Pay Will Affect Women
Under federal guidelines, workers who earn more than $23,600 a year (which is below the poverty line for a family of four) are not automatically eligible for overtime pay. The U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a rule to raise the earning threshold for overtime pay to $50,440 annually by 2016. This increase would make it easier for nearly 5 million workers, more than half of them women, to receive overtime pay at time-and-a-half (150 percent of their regular wage for hours worked over 40 per week).
 
What impact will this increase have on working women, mothers, and single mothers? A new report, to be released by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and MomsRising.org, examines how women, mothers, women of color, and women in different occupations will be affected if the rule goes into effect.
 
The report will be released and discussed at a telephone news conference:
 
10am Eastern Time, Tuesday, August 11
Dial-In Number: 1-800-351-4895
Passcode: 883913
 
Speakers will include:
  • Heidi Hartmann, PhD, President and CEO, Institute for Women’s Policy Research
  • Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, President, Co-Founder and CEO, MomsRising.org
  • A worker who will speak to the importance of overtime pay
 
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The Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that conducts rigorous research and disseminates its findings to address the needs of women and their families, promote public dialogue, and strengthen communities and societies. 
 

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.