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We need new overtime rules, and here's why

Jeremy Sprinkle
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One woman's story speaks for millions of workers like her

The story of Dawn Hughey of Flint, Michigan, who worked well over 40 hours a week to make someone else rich but got paid nothing for her extra effort, is the story of millions of American workers denied overtime pay, as AFL-CIO Now, explains:

Dawn's employer, Dollar General, hasn't paid her a living wage for the hours she has worked because an outdated rule about who is eligible for overtime pay said they didn't have to. And Dawn's not alone. An estimated 15 million workers should be getting overtime, but aren't.

Dawn was a manager at Dollar General for two years, and because they paid her more than $23,660 a year, they could work her like a dog, with 60-70 hour weeks, and never pay her a dime for her time over 40 hours.

There are over 160,000 workers in North Carolina like Dawn who don't receive fair pay for fair work, but that is about to change thanks to a long-overdue update to overtime rules brought forth by the United States Department of Labor at the behest of President Obama. Their proposed changes would raise the threshold for exemption from overtime to $970 a week or $50,440 a year.

The USDOL will issue a final rule soon after a 60-day comment period - and that's where you come in.

Help workers like Dawn and millions of others get the pay they've earned by leaving your comment in support of updating overtime rules to cover more American workers.

No one should have to work for free. Hard work should be rewarded with good pay.

Let USDOL know it's time to #FixOvertime!