Obama seeks overtime pay overhaul

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to direct the Labor Department on Thursday to alter regulations to require overtime pay for millions more workers.

The sweeping expansion would affect fast-food managers, loan officers, computer technicians and other positions that businesses currently classify as "executive or professional" in order to avoid paying them overtime, the New York Times reported.

The move isn't likely to please Republicans in Congress, who have said they plan to fight Obama's proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.

"There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” said Daniel Mitchell, a senior fellow with the Cato Institute, a public policy think tank. “If they push through something to make a certain class of workers more expensive, something will happen to adjust."

Cecilia Muñoz, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, said the move is meant to help U.S. workers thrive.

“We need to fix the system so folks working hard are getting compensated fairly,” she said. “That’s why we are jump-starting this effort.”

Obama's overtime proposal faces approval by the Labor Department and could be scaled back before it's finalized.

[New York Times]