A federal judge in Texas permanently blocked a rule from President Joe Biden’s administration that expanded overtime protections for workers by requiring employers to pay overtime premiums to more salaried people, multiple outlets reported, eliminating one of the highest-profile Labor Department rules enacted during the Biden administration.
The US Department of Labor Building on March 26, 2020, in Washington, DC.
Judge Sean D. Jordan in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas—who was appointed by President-elect Donald Trump in his first term—said the Labor Department went beyond its authority when implementing the rule.
The rule had the potential to make about 4 million more salaried workers eligible for overtime pay, the Labor Department said.
The first phase of the rule went into effect on July 1 and raised the salary threshold to be eligible for overtime from around $35,500 to almost $44,000, and the next increase—which would have gone into effect next year—would have raised it to nearly $59,000, Bloomberg reported.
Reuters reported the threshold for overtime eligibility will now revert back to $35,500, which is what it was set at in 2019 under Trump.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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