Paul Constant is a writer at Civic Ventures and the cohost of the "Pitchfork Economics" podcast.
A recent episode explored why overtime pay has stagnated, and how President Biden can fix it.Only 15% of salaried workers qualify for overtime, despite working more hours than hourly staffers.This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
"Time is money" is more than a clich it should serve as a foundation for what work means in America.
From the late 19th century into the 20th century, generations of workers many of whom were working up to 100 hours a week fought for a cap on work hours. But since the 40-hour workweek was written into law in 1940, employers have been quietly pulling back employees' personal time.
A 2019 Gallup poll found that 39% of full-time American workers reported working at least 50 hours in an average week. Gallup also reports that salaried Americans work more than their hourly counterparts, averaging 49 hours a week with few of them qualifying for overtime pay.
In 1975, 62% of the salaried American workforce was earning time-and-a-half if they logged more than 40 hours in a week. But that threshold has only been updated once over the last few decades in 2004 by the Bush administration to account for inflation. As a result, only 15% of salaried workers today are eligible for overtime. In other words, every worker earning more than $35,568 per year is putting in every hour over 40 hours for free.
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