New overtime rules go into effect Saturday in Pennsylvania, more workers eligible

Workers making about $35,600 or less per year are eligible for overtime beginning Saturday in Pennsylvania.

That’s when the state’s new overtime rule takes effect.

“Tomorrow marks the first update to the commonwealth’s overtime regulations in more than four decades,” Department of Labor and Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak said in a statement released Friday.

However, the new regulations won’t have any impact on employers or employees this year because they only bring the state threshold up to the federal level already in place.

The Department of Labor and Industry is increasing the minimum annual salary threshold for overtime in three steps: $35,568 a year starting Saturday;, $40,560 in October 2021 and $45,500 in October 2022.

Beginning in 2023, the salary threshold will adjust automatically every three years with up to 10% of the salary threshold to be satisfied by nondiscretionary bonuses, incentives and commissions.

Under the new state regulations, about 34,000 more Pennsylvania workers will be eligible for overtime pay next year and another 48,000 in 2022, according to the Economics Policy Institute (EPI).

According to EPI estimates, 63% of those impacted by the new regulations are women and 16% are minorities.

“This final rule ensures that employees who work overtime are fairly and fully compensated for their labor in accordance with the original intent of the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act,” Oleksiak said.

With a few exceptions, those now eligible for overtime include all hourly employees who work more than 40 hours per week, most salaried employees who work more than 40 hours a week and earn less than the salary threshold, and most salaried employees who don’t perform executive, administrative, or professional duties, regardless of how much they are paid.