Texas Business Owner Who Set His Own Overtime Rules Loses Suit Against Labor Department

An appeals court says the federal agency has the authority to mandate overtime pay for workers earning under $684 a week.

The U.S. Department of Labor building in Washington on March 26, 2020. Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images

A federal appeals court has upheld the U.S. Department of Labor’s rule mandating automatic overtime pay for workers earning less than a certain amount.

The department in 2019 said that workers who make under $684 a week, or $35,568 a year, must be paid overtime for hours beyond 40 a week. The rule raised the figure 50 percent, from $455 a week. The rule was issued under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).