The salary cap for overtime pay eligibility is $23,600. Forty years ago, this protected 65% of workers. Now, it protects only 11% of workers from being required to work unpaid overtime.
President Obama can instruct the Department of Labor to increase this threshold to match inflation, effectively raising it to $69,000. This will protect another 10 million workers, forcing employers to either hire more staff, or pay workers time and a half for their overtime hours.