I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2395 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to establish a minimum 

salary threshold for bona fide executive, administrative, and professional 

employees exempt from Federal overtime compensation requirements, 

and automatically update such threshold each year, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 29, 2023 

Mr. TAKANO (for himself and Ms. ADAMS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to establish 

a minimum salary threshold for bona fide executive, administrative, and professional employees exempt from 

Federal overtime compensation requirements, and automatically update such threshold each year, 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 Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 

4 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) established overtime compensa5 tion requirements for certain employees when they 

6 work more than 40 hours in a given workweek. 

7 (2) Under section 13(a)(1) of such Act, Con8 gress delegated to the Secretary of Labor the au9 thority to define and delimit the terms relating to 

10 the exemption for bona fide executive, administra11 tive, and professional employees (commonly known 

12 as the ‘‘white-collar exemption’’). 

13 (3) For more than 75 years, the Secretary of 

14 Labor has exercised the Secretary’s delegated au15 thority to issue regulations that define and delimit 

16 the terms relating to the white-collar exemption by 

17 applying a duties test and applying a minimum com18 pensation level (or salary threshold). 

19 (4) The Secretary of Labor began utilizing a 

20 salary threshold in the initial regulations defining 

21 and delimiting the terms relating to the white-collar 

22 exemption, which were first issued in 1938. 

23 (5) Congress has long approved the use of a 

24 salary threshold by the Secretary of Labor, as dem25 onstrated by the fact that Congress has amended the 

26 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 at least 10 times 


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1 since 1938 and has not precluded the Secretary 

2 from using a salary threshold. 

3 (6) The salary threshold became woefully out of 

4 date and ineffective as a result of not being suffi5 ciently updated to keep pace with the changing econ6 omy, as evidenced by the fact that 63 percent of all 

7 full-time salaried workers were guaranteed overtime 

8 pay under section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards 

9 Act of 1938 based on their salaries in 1975 while, 

10 in 2022, less than 15 percent of all full-time salaried 

11 workers are guaranteed such overtime pay under the 

12 overtime rule promulgated on September 27, 2019. 

13 (7) Weak overtime protections also hurt the 

14 many workers who are forced into part-time jobs but 

15 need full-time jobs to support themselves and their 

16 families. When employers can no longer overwork 

17 employees who are exempt from overtime pay be18 cause of lax standards, they will be forced to spread 

19 work and hours across their workforce. Restoring 

20 overtime protections is especially important in 2023, 

21 as the economy of the United States is still recov22 ering from the pandemic and many workers report 

23 their employers demanding excessive hours. 

24 (8) In 2015, when the Department of Labor 

25 proposed an increase to the overtime salary threshVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2395.IH H2395

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1 old rule under the Obama Administration, it found 

2 that the historic range of the overtime salary thresh3 old under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ran 

4 from approximately the 35th to the 55th percentile 

5 of weekly earnings for all full-time salaried workers. 

6 By phasing the overtime salary threshold back up to 

7 the 55th percentile of earnings of full-time salaried 

8 workers nationally—which after adjusting for infla9 tion is projected to translate to an annualized 

10 amount of $73,551 in 2021 and $82,745 by 2026 

11 (roughly the level of the boldest State overtime 

12 threshold increase)—the United States can restore 

13 overtime protections to historic levels. 

14 SEC. 3. MINIMUM SALARY THRESHOLD FOR BONA FIDE EX15 ECUTIVE, ADMINISTRATIVE, AND PROFES16 SIONAL EMPLOYEES EXEMPT FROM FEDERAL 

17 OVERTIME COMPENSATION REQUIREMENTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 13 of the Fair Labor 

19 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213) is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

21 (A) by inserting ‘‘subsection (k) and’’ after 

22 ‘‘subject to’’; and 

23 (B) by inserting ‘‘(except as provided 

24 under subsection (k)(2)(C))’’ after ‘‘Administra25 tive Procedure Act’’; and 


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

2 ‘‘(k) MINIMUM SALARY THRESHOLD.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the effective 

4 date of the Restoring Overtime Pay Act of 2023, the 

5 Secretary shall require that an employee described in 

6 subsection (a)(1), as a requirement for exemption 

7 under such subsection, be compensated on a salary 

8 basis, or equivalent fee basis, within the meaning of 

9 such terms in subpart G of part 541 of title 29, 

10 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regu11 lation), at a rate per week that is not less than the 

12 weekly rate of the applicable annualized salary 

13 threshold under paragraph (2). 

14 ‘‘(2) SALARY THRESHOLD.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara16 graphs (B) and (C), the applicable annualized 

17 salary threshold shall be— 

18 ‘‘(i) $45,000, beginning on the effec19 tive date of the Restoring Overtime Pay 

20 Act of 2023; 

21 ‘‘(ii) $55,000, beginning on January 

22 1, 2024; 

23 ‘‘(iii) $65,000, beginning on January 

24 1, 2025; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) $75,000, beginning on January 

2 1, 2026; and 

3 ‘‘(v) beginning on January 1, 2027, 

4 an annualized amount that is equal to the 

5 rate of the 55th percentile of weekly earn6 ings of full-time salaried workers nation7 ally, as determined by the Bureau of Labor 

8 Statistics based on data from the second 

9 quarter of 2026. 

10 ‘‘(B) INCREASED THRESHOLD.—The Sec11 retary may establish, through notice and com12 ment rulemaking under section 553 of title 5, 

13 United States Code, a salary threshold that is 

14 a rate that— 

15 ‘‘(i) is greater than the applicable 

16 annualized salary threshold under subpara17 graph (A); and 

18 ‘‘(ii) is calculated based on a data set 

19 and methodology established by the Sec20 retary that are capable of being updated in 

21 accordance with subparagraph (C). 

22 ‘‘(C) AUTOMATIC UPDATES.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 

24 year after the salary threshold first takes 

25 effect under subparagraph (A)(v), and anVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2395.IH H2395

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1 nually thereafter, or, in the case in which 

2 the Secretary establishes an increased sal3 ary threshold under subparagraph (B), an4 nually after establishing such increased 

5 salary threshold, the Secretary shall up6 date the rate of the salary threshold in ef7 fect under subparagraph (A)(v) or (B), as 

8 applicable, so that such rate is equal to— 

9 ‘‘(I) in the case in which the Sec10 retary does not establish an increased 

11 salary threshold under subparagraph 

12 (B), the 55th percentile of weekly 

13 earnings of full-time salaried workers 

14 nationally, as determined by the Bu15 reau of Labor Statistics based on data 

16 from the second quarter of the cal17 endar year preceding the calendar 

18 year in which such updated amount is 

19 to take effect; and 

20 ‘‘(II) in the case in which the 

21 Secretary establishes an increased sal22 ary threshold under subparagraph 

23 (B), the greater of— 

24 ‘‘(aa) the 55th percentile de25 scribed in subclause (I); and 


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1 ‘‘(bb) the increased salary 

2 threshold established under sub3 paragraph (B), as updated in ac4 cordance with the data set and 

5 methodology established by the 

6 Secretary under subparagraph 

7 (B)(ii). 

8 ‘‘(ii) NONAPPLICABILITY OF RULE9 MAKING.—Section 553 of title 5, United 

10 States Code, shall not apply to any update 

11 described in this subparagraph. 

12 ‘‘(D) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.—Not later 

13 than 60 days before a revised salary threshold 

14 under this paragraph takes effect, the Secretary 

15 shall publish a notice announcing the amount in 

16 the Federal Register and on the internet 

17 website of the Department of Labor.’’. 

18 (b) PUBLICATION OF EARNINGS.—Not later than 21 

19 days after the end of each calendar quarter, the Bureau 

20 of Labor Statistics shall publish on its public website, for 

21 each week of such quarter, data on the weekly earnings 

22 of full-time salaried workers by census region (as des23 ignated by the Bureau of the Census). 


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1 SEC. 4. NONEXEMPT DUTIES LIMIT FOR BONA FIDE EXECU2 TIVE, ADMINISTRATIVE, OR PROFESSIONAL 

3 EMPLOYEES. 

4 Section 13(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

5 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213), as amended in section 3(a)(1), is 

6 further amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘of a retail or service establish8 ment shall not’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’; 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘because of’’ and all that follows 

10 through ‘‘administrative activities,’’; 

11 (3) by striking ‘‘less than 40’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘not less than 20’’; and 

13 (4) by striking ‘‘such activities’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘activities not directly or closely related to the per15 formance of executive or administrative activities’’. 

16 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

17 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 

18 shall take effect on the first day of the third month that 

19 begins after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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