English subtitles for clip: File:2016-05-21 President Obama's Weekly Address.webm

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The President: Hi everybody.

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Last summer, I got a letter
from a woman named

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Elizabeth Paredes from
Tucson, Arizona.

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Elizabeth is the mom of
a 3-year-old boy, and an

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assistant manager
at a sandwich shop.

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She earns about $2,000 a
month, and she routinely

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works some 50 hours a
week, sometimes even more.

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But because of outdated
overtime regulations, she

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doesn't have to be paid
a dime of overtime.

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She wrote: "It's not easy
work and requires a lot of

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time away from my son...

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at times I find
[it's] not worth it."

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Things like the 40-hour
workweek and overtime are

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two of the most basic
pillars of a middle class life.

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But for all the changes
we've seen in our economy,

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our overtime rules have only
been updated once

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since the 1970s.

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Just once.

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In fact, forty years ago,
more than 60 percent of

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workers were eligible for
overtime based

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on their salaries.

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But today, that number is
down to seven percent.

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Only seven percent of
full-time salaried workers

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are eligible for overtime
based on their income.

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That's why this week, my
Administration took a step

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to help more workers get the
overtime pay they've earned.

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The Department of Labor
finalized a rule to extend

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overtime protections to 4.2
million more Americans.

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It's a move that will boost
wages for working Americans

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by $12 billion over
the next 10 years.

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We're more than doubling the
overtime salary threshold.

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And what that means is, most
salaried workers who earn

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less than about $47,500
a year will qualify

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for overtime.

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Or, their employers can
choose to give them a raise

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so that they earn
more than $47,500.

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Or, if employers don't want
to raise wages, they can let

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them go home after 40 hours
and see their families or

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train for new jobs.

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Any way you slice it, it's
a win for working families.

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And we're making sure that
every three years, there

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will be an automatic update
to this threshold - so that

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working families won't fall
through the cracks for

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decades at a
time ever again.

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This is the single biggest
step I can take through

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executive action to raise
wages for the American people.

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It means that millions of
hardworking Americans like

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Elizabeth will either get
paid for working more than

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40 hours, or they'll get
more time with their families.

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Either way, they win.

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The middle class wins.

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And America wins.

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We still have more work to
do to make sure this economy

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works for everybody, not
just those at the top.

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That's why I'll never stop
fighting for as long as I

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hold this office - to
restore the sense that in

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America, hard work should be
rewarded with the chance

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to get ahead.

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Thanks everybody.

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Have a great weekend.