Obama Wage Changes Would Create Six-Figure 'Overtime Elites'

New rules proposed by President Obama would expand the number of employees qualifying for overtime pay, including workers making up to $122,148 – the 90^th percentile for full time salaried workers – this creating a class of six-figure workers who could pull in many more thousands in paid overtime. The Labor Department estimates that the new rules would create about 36,000 of these high-roller overtime earners, who pass the “standard duties test” which screens out administrative, professional, and executive compensations. Some are concerned that the proposed increase at the upper end of the scale may lead to more wage theft lawsuits, as highly paid employees have the spare change to hire a lawyer. “They would be a ripe target for the plaintiff’s bar, which would love to go after these highly compensated employees for overtime,” said Mark Wilson, former deputy assistant secretary at the Labor Department’s Employment Standards Administration.