Obama planning to expand overtime eligibility to millions of Americans

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The Obama administration could announce as early as Tuesday that it plans to expand overtime eligibility for millions of Americans by 2016.

The 1938 law that established the federal 40-hour workweek exempts professional, administrative, and executive employees from overtime pay requirements. Under the draft rules, a person classified as a manager or professional who earns $970 a week or less and works more than 40 hours would have to earn overtime pay, an administration official told Bloomberg. Retail workers and restaurant employees are the most likely to be affected. "You would be hard pressed to find a rule change or an executive order that would reach more middle class workers than this one," says Jared Bernstein, former economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden and senior fellow at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.