More than 8 million workers who would have become eligible for overtime pay under an Obama-era proposal would lose out under an alternative plan by the Trump administration, a new report contends.

Earlier this month, the Labor Department unveiled a proposal that effectively waters down a previous Obama administration rule that would have updated the nation’s overtime laws for the first time since 2004.

The Obama proposal would have broadened eligibility to certain workers who earn up to $984 a week, compared to $455 under the old law.

The new rule would set the cutoff at $679 starting in 2020.

More than one million additional workers would become eligible for overtime pay if the Trump administration proposal is enacted, the Labor Department said. Effectively it would cover those employees earning between $456 to $679 a week.

Yet nearly 8.2 million workers who would have become eligible under the Obama plan could get snubbed, according to a report released on Friday by the Economic Policy Institute. That’s how many earn roughly between $680 to $984 a week.

Employees are entitled to 1.5 times their hourly pay under several conditions, according to the Department of Labor’s Fair Labor Standards Act last updated in 2004:

Work for an organization that has more than two employees and at least $500,000 in annual revenue Provide medical or nursing care for residents, schools and government agencies Earn no more than $455 a week ($23,660 annually) Work more than 40 hours a week, in which case you are entitled to 1.5 times your hourly pay



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The proposed Trump administration changes would not apply to police officers, firefighters, paramedics, nurses, construction workers and certain other employees involved in production who are covered under separate laws.

Given the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years, it is possible workers will have more leverage to negotiate increased wages in lieu of higher overtime pay. But Heidi Shierholz, an author of the report and a senior economist and director of policy at EPI, said it’s unlikely.

“The fact that labor markets are tight gives them more bargaining power, but I don’t think it’s likely that all of the workers who would have gotten protection under the rule will be asking for raises,” she said.

Prior to the changes enacted by the Obama administration in 2016, there had not been any changes to overtime pay qualifications since 2004. At the time only 7% of full-time salaried workers were eligible for overtime pay, Labor Department figures show.

“The 2004 rule is legally flawed, and the 2016 rule corrected a major error in the 2004 law,” Shierholz argued. “This really doubles down on the 2004 rule and I think it is open to legal challenge and it’s likely it will in fact be challenged.”