Overtime pay would be guaranteed for most salaried workers earning less than $1,059 per week, approximately $55,000, per year, under a rule now being proposed by the US Department of Labor. It would add overtime protections to an estimated 3.6 million salaried workers.

The proposed rule would also automatically update the salary threshold every three years to reflect current earnings data.

Further coverage of this rule is planned by Staffing Industry Analysts.

The Department of Labor officially announced on Aug. 30 a notice of proposed rulemaking, which will allow a 60-day period for public comment.

“For over 80 years, a cornerstone of workers’ rights in this country is the right to a 40-hour workweek, the promise that you get to go home after 40 hours or you get higher pay for each extra hour that you spend laboring away from your loved ones,” Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su said in a press release. “I’ve heard from workers again and again about working long hours, for no extra pay, all while earning low salaries that don’t come anywhere close to compensating them for their sacrifices."