Whitehouse & Reed Seek to Reverse Trump Denial of OT Pay for More Middle-Class Workers, Including Salaried Employees

The Restoring Overtime Pay Act of 2026 would raise the salary threshold for overtime pay & help more RI workers earn bigger paychecks

Washington, D.C. - As the Trump Administration's policies continue to increase costs and accelerate inflation while keeping wages down, U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Jack Reed (D-RI) are teaming up with Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and several colleagues on legislation that would reverse President Trump's decision to slash the number of workers who qualify for overtime pay for any hours they work beyond 40 in a given work week.

The U.S. Senators say that workers who go above and beyond and work longer hours deserve to be fairly compensated. The Restoring Overtime Pay Act (S.4551), would update the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to restore overtime pay protections to millions of workers.

The FLSA provides overtime protections to most hourly workers and many low-salaried workers, guaranteeing time-and-a-half pay for hours worked in excess of 40 hours a week. These FLSA overtime rules apply to all private businesses with annual revenues of at least $500,000, as well as organizations like hospitals, schools, and public agencies. These federal overtime pay standards protect workers and encourage businesses to hire more people.

But on May 14, 2026, the Trump Administration announced that it is formally rescinding the 2024 overtime rule that would have made potentially millions more workers eligible for overtime premium pay under the FLSA. This effectively reset the overtime threshold back to $684 per week.

"President Trump's crises of costs, chaos, and corruption are squeezing people who are working overtime to make ends meet. Our new bill would allow more hardworking Rhode Islanders to get overtime pay, reversing the Trump Labor Department's corrupt decision to limit who qualifies for time-and-a-half pay," said Whitehouse.

"The Trump Administration unfairly gutted overtime pay protections for millions of workers, and our bill would counteract that unjust decision. Millions of hardworking Americans are putting in longer hours and not getting paid for it. Our bill is simple and fair: If you put in the extra hours, you deserve to get overtime pay. Too many big companies improperly exempt employees from overtime, cheating them of their full wages. This bill would change that to ensure workers are fairly compensated. Right now, American workers are losing billions of dollars of income they earned and essentially being taken advantage of with the Trump Administration's blessing. The Restoring Overtime Pay Act makes needed reforms to protect and expand overtime pay standards to ensure more workers are paid the overtime income they are due," said Reed.

"At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, when over 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, it is beyond unacceptable that President Trump is denying overtime pay to millions of workers who desperately need it to keep up with the outrageously high cost of living," said Sanders. "We should be making it easier, not harder, for Americans who work more than 40 hours a week to get the time-and-a-half pay that they have earned and deserve. That's precisely what this bill would do."

The Restoring Overtime Pay Act would expand or strengthen overtime protections for up to 29.3 million workers by gradually increasing the overtime salary threshold from just $35,568 today to more than $89,000 by 2030. This legislation comes on the heels of President Trump's rescission of a Biden-era rule that would have expanded overtime pay for more than 4 million workers.

Currently, just eight percent of full-time salaried workers are eligible for overtime pay based on their salaries alone. This legislation would increase that figure to 55 percent of full-time salaried workers. This is not a radical idea. In 1975, nearly 63 percent of all full-time salaried workers were guaranteed overtime pay.

Restoring Overtime Pay Act Timeline:

Year OT Threshold

2026 $45,000

2027 $55,000

2028 $65,000

2029 $75,000

2030 55th percentile of full-time salaried workers nationally*, updated annually

*The current 55th percentile of full-time salaried workers nationally is $89,440 and could increase to $98,000 by 2030.

In addition to Sanders, Reed, and Whitehouse, the bill is also cosponsored by U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Peter Welch (D-VT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE).

The Restoring Overtime Pay Act has also been endorsed by 34 organizations, including the AFL-CIO, United Auto Workers (UAW), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM); International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE); National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Communications Workers of America (CWA), UNITE HERE, United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America (UE), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), United for Respect, and United Steelworkers (USW).

Companion legislation is being introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Mark Takano (D-CA).