II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2486 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to establish salary thresholds for and limitations on executive, administrative, and professional 

employees and address highly compensated employees, for purposes of 

the requirements for exemption from the Federal minimum wage and 

maximum hour provisions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 18, 2014 

Mr. HARKIN (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. CASEY, Ms. WARREN, Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to establish 

salary thresholds for and limitations on executive, administrative, and professional employees and address highly 

compensated employees, for purposes of the requirements 

for exemption from the Federal minimum wage and maximum hour provisions, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Restoring Overtime 

5 Pay for Working Americans Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SALARY THRESHOLDS, HIGHLY COMPENSATED EM2 PLOYEES, AND PRIMARY DUTIES. 

3 (a) SALARY THRESHOLDS FOR EXECUTIVE, ADMIN4 ISTRATIVE, AND PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEES.—Section 

5 13 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

6 213) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting before ‘‘; 

8 or’’ the following: ‘‘, subject to the requirement that 

9 any employee whom the Secretary determines is re10 quired to be paid on a salary (or equivalent fee 

11 basis) in order to be exempt under this subsection 

12 shall, in order to be so exempt, receive compensation 

13 at a rate of not less than the salary rate (or equiva14 lent fee basis) determined under subsection (k)’’; 

15 and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(k) SALARY RATE (OR EQUIVALENT FEE BASIS).— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The salary rate (or equiva19 lent fee basis) determined under this subsection for 

20 purposes of subsection (a)(1) shall be— 

21 ‘‘(A) beginning 1 year after the first day 

22 of the first month that begins after the date of 

23 enactment of the Restoring Overtime Pay for 

24 Working Americans Act, $665 per week; 

25 ‘‘(B) beginning 2 years after such first 

26 day, $865 per week; 


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1 ‘‘(C) beginning 3 years after such first 

2 day, $1,090 per week; and 

3 ‘‘(D) beginning on the date that is 4 years 

4 after such first day, and on such first day in 

5 each succeeding year, an adjusted amount that 

6 is— 

7 ‘‘(i) not less than the amount in effect 

8 under this paragraph on the day before the 

9 date of such adjustment; 

10 ‘‘(ii) increased from such amount by 

11 the annual percentage increase in the Con12 sumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earn13 ers and Clerical Workers; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) rounded to the nearest multiple 

15 of $1.00. 

16 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE.—Notwithstanding para17 graph (1), for any employee for whom the minimum 

18 wage would otherwise be determined pursuant to 

19 section 8103(b) of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 

20 2007 (29 U.S.C. 206 note), the Secretary may de21 termine, through regulations, the salary rate (or 

22 equivalent fee basis). 

23 ‘‘(l) PRIMARY DUTY.—In any case where an employer 

24 classifies an employee as an employee employed in a bona 

25 fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity, for 


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1 the purpose of subsection (a)(1), or in a position described 

2 in subsection (a)(17), for the purpose of such subsection, 

3 such employee shall not spend more than 50 percent of 

4 such employee’s work hours in a workweek on duties that 

5 are not exempt under paragraph (1) or (17) of subsection 

6 (a), respectively. 

7 ‘‘(m) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this sec8 tion: 

9 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL PERCENTAGE INCREASE.—The 

10 term ‘annual percentage increase’, when used in ref11 erence to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage 

12 Earners and Clerical Workers, means the annual 

13 percentage increase calculated by the Secretary by 

14 comparing such Consumer Price Index for the most 

15 recent month, quarter, or year available (as selected 

16 by the Secretary prior to the first year for which a 

17 minimum wage is in effect pursuant to this sub18 section) with such Consumer Price Index for the 

19 same month in the preceding year, the same quarter 

20 in the preceding year, or the preceding year, respec21 tively. 

22 ‘‘(2) CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR URBAN

23 WAGE EARNERS AND CLERICAL WORKERS.—The 

24 term ‘Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earn25 ers and Clerical Workers’ means the Consumer Price 


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1 Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Work2 ers (United States city average, all items, not sea3 sonally adjusted), or its successor publication, as de4 termined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.’’. 

5 (b) HIGHLY COMPENSATED EMPLOYEES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary of Labor, in 

7 the discretion of such Secretary, determines that an 

8 employee may be exempt for purposes of section 

9 13(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

10 (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(1)), as a highly compensated em11 ployee (as such term is defined and delimited by the 

12 Secretary), then the level of total annual compensa13 tion necessary for such exemption shall be— 

14 (A) beginning 1 year after the first day of 

15 the first month that begins after the date of en16 actment of this Act, $108,000; 

17 (B) beginning 2 years after such first day, 

18 $116,000; 

19 (C) beginning 3 years after such first day, 

20 $125,000; and 

21 (D) beginning on the date that is 4 years 

22 after such first day, and for each succeeding 

23 calendar year, an adjusted amount that is— 


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1 (i) not less than the amount in effect 

2 under this paragraph on the day before the 

3 date of such adjustment; 

4 (ii) increased from such amount by 

5 the annual percentage increase in the Con6 sumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earn7 ers and Clerical Workers; and 

8 (iii) rounded to the nearest multiple of 

9 $1.00. 

10 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

11 subsection or the regulations promulgated by the 

12 Secretary of Labor under this subsection shall over13 ride any provision of a collective bargaining agree14 ment that provides for overtime employment com15 pensation, or rights to such compensation, that ex16 ceed the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards 

17 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.). 

18 (3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub19 section, the terms ‘‘annual percentage increase’’ and 

20 ‘‘Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners 

21 and Clerical Workers’’ have the meanings given the 

22 terms in section 13(m) of the Fair Labor Standards 

23 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(m)), as added by sub24 section (a). 

25 (c) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days be2 fore the effective date of any adjustment in the sal3 ary rate (or equivalent fee basis) required under sec4 tion 13(k)(1)(D) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

5 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(k)(1)(D)), as added by sub6 section (a), or any adjustment in the amount of 

7 compensation required for the highly compensated 

8 employee exemption required under subsection (b), 

9 the Secretary of Labor shall publish, in the Federal 

10 Register and on the website of the Department of 

11 Labor, a notice announcing the adjusted salary rate 

12 (or equivalent fee basis) or adjusted amount of com13 pensation, respectively. 

14 (2) NONAPPLICABILITY OF RULEMAKING RE15 QUIREMENTS.—The provisions of section 553 of title 

16 5, United States Code, shall not apply to any notice 

17 required under this subsection. 

18 (d) PENALTIES.—Section 16(e)(2) of the Fair Labor 

19 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(e)(2)) is amended 

20 by inserting ‘‘or section 11(c), relating to the records that 

21 each employer is required to make, keep, and preserve,’’ 

22 after ‘‘relating to wages,’’. 

23 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act, and the amend24 ments made by this Act, shall take effect on the date that 


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1 is 1 year after the first day of the first month that begins 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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