On Jan. 1, tens of thousands of Washington state’s salaried workers got some of their time back, more money in their pockets, or a bit of both.

The new year marked the start of the next phase of Washington’s restoration of overtime protections, which means most salaried workers who make less than about $65,000 will now either be paid time and a half for every hour they work over 40 per week, get a salary raise, or get to leave work on time.

Washington is leading the way in restoring overtime protections that Americans enjoyed for decades – but our country as a whole is still way behind. Only 15% of salaried Americans have overtime protections today, compared to over 60% in 1975. That means that middle-class salaried workers have steadily given more and more time to their bosses for less and less money, while corporations and CEOs have been given free reign to overwork their employees without paying their workers a dime for their extra time.

It’s also been terrible for the economy. The average salaried worker works 49 hours per week. When big CEOs can squeeze five employees’ worth of work out of four people, they’re literally siphoning jobs out of the economy.

Civic Action is calling on the U.S. Department of Labor to prioritize restoring overtime protections for middle-class Americans in 2023, and we need your support: Will you send a message now to convince the Department of Labor to strengthen our economy by restoring overtime protections?

If the Department of Labor restores overtime protections to historic levels, millions of salaried workers won’t be forced to do extra work for free. Companies would have a choice to compensate workers for extra hours, hire more employees to handle the company’s workload, or simply let their employees go home on time. It would be a win for workers, families, and our economy as a whole.

Restoring the overtime threshold is critical to creating a strong middle class – and now that states like Washington are ensuring overtime protections cover more workers, it’s time for the Biden administration to follow suit. Please, join us in calling on the Department of Labor to prioritize this issue in 2023:

Sign on now: Tell the Department of Labor to strengthen our economy by restoring the overtime threshold to cover a majority of salaried American workers.

Thank you for your advocacy,

Team Civic Action