Congress moves to restore overtime pay for millions of salaried workers

What it does

This bill raises the salary threshold that determines which salaried employees are exempt from overtime pay requirements under federal law. It sets the threshold at $45,000 immediately upon enactment, then increases it to $55,000 in 2027, $65,000 in 2028, and $75,000 in 2029. Starting in 2030, the threshold automatically adjusts each year to match the 55th percentile of full-time salaried worker earnings, ensuring it keeps pace with wage growth without requiring Congress to act. The bill also requires that exempt employees spend at least 20% of their time on actual executive or administrative duties (not unrelated tasks). The net effect: millions of salaried workers earning below these thresholds will become eligible for overtime pay, and employers will face higher labor costs.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is straightforward: it raises the salary threshold for overtime exemption and locks in automatic annual increases tied to wage data. This is a direct labor-standards expansion designed to restore overtime eligibility to salaried workers whose real wages have stagnated relative to the exempt threshold.

What the text implies

• Employers may respond by converting exempt salaried positions to hourly roles, reducing benefits or job security for affected workers, or accelerating automation in roles that would become overtime-eligible.
• The automatic adjustment mechanism removes future legislative discretion—once enacted, the threshold updates without Congress needing to act, which may provoke employer lobbying to weaken or repeal the entire provision before it takes effect.
• The 55th percentile benchmark is a policy choice that will capture a larger share of the salaried workforce than prior thresholds; this expands the overtime-eligible population but may also increase pressure on small employers with thin margins.
• The 20% nonexempt-duties requirement may be difficult to enforce and could spawn litigation over what counts as 'directly or closely related' to executive/administrative work, creating compliance uncertainty for employers.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Ordinary workers gain a concrete right to overtime compensation if their salary falls below the new thresholds, directly increasing take-home pay for millions of salaried employees. The automatic annual adjustment protects workers from wage erosion and removes the need for political gridlock to update the threshold, ensuring the rule stays relevant as wages rise.

Who stands to gain

• salaried workers earning $45,000–$75,000+ annually
• labor unions (increased overtime hours may drive union organizing)
• staffing and temp agencies (may benefit from increased demand for hourly workers as employers shift

Named in the bill

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Executive, Administrative, and Professional (EAP) employees, 29 CFR Part 541

Where it stands

28 cosponsors: 28 Democrats.

• May 18, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• May 18, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $230,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 24 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Bernie Sanders, the sponsor, reported $-5,000 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• United Automobile Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers — $230,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.